Music | Savannah philharmonic
Heaven and nature will sing in the breathtaking interior of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Photo by Geoff L. Johnson
A ‘word painting’ by the Philharmonic Haydn’s The Creation comes to life in the Cathedral By Anna Chandler anna@connectsavannah.com
JAN 28-FEB 3, 2015
IF YOU live in Savannah, you know you’re lucky to live among unrivaled natural beauty year-round. It’s January, and we can stroll through Forsyth Park beneath a canopy of dripping moss and sprawling oak, throw on a jacket and walk along the Atlantic Ocean, squish our toes in the salt marsh at Skidaway Island. We know this. But sometimes—when 22 work encompasses us, when our phones
won’t stop blowing up, when we’re shuffling kids to innumerable after-school activities— we take it for granted. Sometimes, we need a reminder. The Savannah Philharmonic is ending January with the perfect wake-up call. Regarded by many to be Haydn’s masterpiece, The Creation comes to life in one of downtown’s historic architectural treasures: the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. Beneath gilded arches and cerulean panels, the Savannah Philharmonic will bring a new kind of beauty to a timeless story,
chronicling the emergence of all the flora and fauna that surround us. Austrian Joseph Haydn was a prolific composer of the Classical period, fondly dubbed the “Father of the Symphony.” At 29 years old, he was made “house officer” to the affluent Esterházy family, a job that included composing, running the orchestra, and filling their multiple palaces with chamber music. Though it was an extremely demanding gig, it was great for Haydn as a musician— with access to his own small orchestra,
Haydn wrote countless compositions in his near-thirty years with the family. And with such an engrossing job, he was totally isolated from musical trends, and, in his own words, “forced to become original.” Drawing inspiration from the biblical books of Genesis and Psalms, as well as Milton’s Paradise Lost, The Creation was composed and debuted at the height of Haydn’s career. The first performance was an invitation-only affair, nobility, patrons of the arts, and government officials filled Vienna’s Schwarzenberg Palace. By that time, Haydn was a household name—the streets outside the palace were so flooded with fans that 30 police officers had to be on-site to keep the peace. Let’s hope the SCMPD isn’t going to have to block off Abercorn (be smart—get those