Von deiner Güt’, o Herr und Gott
This morning I listened to Building a Library on BBC Radio 3, a programme in which music experts discuss the best available recordings of classic works; the work under consideration this time The Creation, by Joseph Haydn. I won’t comment on the final choice, as I haven’t heard it all the way through, but I do agree with the presenter that there are many superb versions of this wonderful oratorio. All this gives me an excuse to post one of my favourite pieces, Von deiner Güt’, o Herr und Gott from Part III. Here Adam and Eve are singing a prayer of thanks, to music that’s almost childlike in its simplicity. It’s so simple, in fact, that only a genius could have written it. Later a chorus of angels joins in, accompanied by gently rolling timpani, a moment which for some reason always brings me to the edge of tears. If there is music in Heaven, surely it sounds like this.
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In the Dark 
December 28, 2013 at 2:09 pm
And there is the story that Haydn was inspired to write The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God/Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes after looking at the Orion Nebula through William Herschel’s Forty-Foot Telescope.
December 28, 2013 at 3:22 pm
I believe that Haydn was shown ‘the heavens’ through a telescope by William Herschel, whilst he was in London at the behest of King George. They had much in common – Herschel being a professional musician and composer before turning to astronomy and all three were of ‘German’ origin . Haydn later returned home to Vienna, inspired to begin work on ‘The Creation’.
January 24, 2014 at 12:59 pm
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