Modern Times Creation

I sing with Chiltern Chamber Choir based in Berkhamsted. and in St Peter’s Berkhamsted this evening there is a performance of ‘The Creation’ by Joseph Haydn. It is the annual joint performance by The Bridgewater Sinfonia and Chiltern Chamber Choir; both orchestra and choir sing separately in performances across the year. After the rehearsal this afternoon, I used my new wide angle lens (still a novelty) to do some shots of the church. Modern Times (to fit in with DDW's Challenge) for the performers with an old piece of music in an older venue and a very modern digital means of recording the occasion!

The Parish Church of St Peter, Great Berkhamsted stands on the main High Street of the town and is recognisable by its 85-foot clock tower. The building is medieval in origin, the earliest part dating from c.1200, and the architecture spans at least five architectural periods, mostly 14th and 15th Centuries. Because of its proximity to Berkhamsted Castle, St Peter's has had a long association with Royalty, with the reigning monarch acting as patron to Berkhamsted rectors for several centuries. Many members of the congregation also worked in important positions for the Royal household. The church today has lost it direct royal ties and functions as the main parish church of the town of Berkhamsted.

The date of foundation of a church in Berkhamsted town is uncertain but historians assume it to be around 1222. A brass plaque can be seen inside the church today which lists all the rectors from the 13th Century to the present day. The turnover of rectors was especially high in the Fourteenth Century, probably due to their lives being cut short by the bubonic plague.

St Peter's continues today as an active parish church. It holds regular services of Christian worship, and the church choir sings on Sundays during the Eucharist and in a monthly service of choral evensong. The church is also frequently used as a venue for classical music concerts performed by local music groups.

The Creation (German: Die Schöpfung) is an oratorio written between 1796 and 1798 by Joseph Haydn, and considered by many to be his masterpiece. The oratorio depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost. It is scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and a symphonic orchestra, and is structured in three parts.

The three soloists represent angels who narrate and comment on the successive six days of creation and the choral singers are employed in a series of monumental choruses, several of them celebrating the end of one particular day of creation. The orchestra often plays alone, notably in the appearance of the sun, the creation of various beasts, and above all in the overture, the famous depiction of the Chaos before the creation.

Wonderful stuff!