pular
success, and Haydn himself was delighted with the work that had cost him
so much trouble. Bombet, the French critic, who was present at the first
performance, says of it:--

"The best critique that has been given of the work is that which Haydn
himself addressed to me when I went to give him an account of the
performance of it in the Palace Schwartzenberg. The applause had been
universal, and I hastened out to congratulate the author. Scarcely had
I opened my lips when the honest composer stopped me: 'I am happy to
find that my music pleases the public; but I can receive no compliment
on this work from you. I am convinced that you feel yourself that it is
not the "Creation;" and the reason is this: in the "Creation" the
actors are angels; here they are peasants.'"

The work is divided into four parts,--Spring, Summer, Autumn, and
Winter,--and the characters introduced are Simon, a farmer; Jane, his
daughter; Lucas, a young countryman and shepherd; and a chorus of Country
People and Hunters. A vivacious overture, expressing the passage from
winter to spring, and recitatives by Simon, Lucas, and Jane, who in turn
express their delight at the close of the one season and the approach of
the other, lead to the opening chorus ("Come, gentle Spring, ethereal
Mildness, come"),--a fresh and animated number, which is familiar to
every one. Simon trolls out a pastoral aria ("With Joy the impatient
Husbandman"), full of the very spirit of quiet, peace, and happiness,--a
quaint melody which will inevitably recall to opera-goers the "Zitti,
Zitti" from Rossini's "Barber of Seville," the essential difference
between the two pieces being that in the latter the time is greatly
accelerated. This aria is followed by a trio and chorus ("Be propitious,
bounteous Heaven"), a free fugue, in which all beseech a blessing upon
the sowing of the seed. The next number is a duet for Jane and Lucas,
with chorus ("Spring her lovely Charms unfolding"), which is fairly
permeated with the delicate suggestions of opening buds and the delights
of the balmy air and young verdure of spring. As its strains die away,
all join in the cheerful fugued chorus, "God of Light," which closes the
first part.

After a brief adagio prelude, the second part, "Summer," opens with a
charming aria by Simon ("From out the Fold the Shepherd drives"), which
gives us a delightful picture of the shepherd driving his flock along the
verdant hillside, t