Marek Janowski, the Dresdner Philharmonie and the MDR Leipzig Radio Choir present Haydn’s oratorio Die Schöpfung (1798), together with soprano Christiane Karg, tenor Benjamin Bruns and bass Tareq Nazmi. During his London sojourns, the aging Haydn was astounded by the audience engagement at performances of Handel’s oratorios, and he aimed to realize something similar in his own work. From the legendary breakthrough of light in the orchestral introduction all the way to the hymn to the almighty creator in the finale, Haydn offers a sweeping, colourful tableau of God’s creation of the world. As such, the work offers the apotheosis of the eighteenth-century oratorio while also serving as an inspiring example to nineteenth-century Romantic composers. Janowski and his forces realize both the Classical transparency and Romantic drive of this epoch-making piece.

The Berlin weekly journal Die Woche, issued from 1899 to 1944 by the publisher August Scherl, announced a composition competition in 1903 with the aim of encouraging new songs 'im Volkston' (in the style of folk music). Prominent composers of the time were approached by the publishers for this competition and asked to send in an appropriate song. Of the songs submitted, thirty were selected and published in a special issue that was available in shops. At the first performance of the songs of this first competition, however, it became clear that many of these songs were indeed in a folk-music style, but due to their complexity they were rather closer to the genre of the art song.