Franz Joseph Haydn’s 1798 oratorio, Die Schöpfung (The Creation), demonstrates the composer at the height of his creative powers, writing in a style that looks back – e.g. through its neo-baroque emulation of Handel’s choruses – while forging imaginative ways to move forward: i.e. from the dramatic perspective.

As YST commemorates its 20th Anniversary, Haydn’s fin de siècle contemplation on the creative process itself seems particularly apropos. The Creation’s libretto fuses Biblical texts from Genesis and the Psalms with passages from Milton’s Paradise Lost, reflecting Haydn’s spiritual devotion as well as his embrace of the German Enlightenment. Two hundred years later, and a half-world away, it was a similar enlightened cosmopolitan impulse that inspired the inception of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Come join us, and celebrate this special Gala Concert with Haydn’s joyous Die Schöpfung!