The Thoughts of Two Great Artists
Comparing different eras and works of people is always done in any kind of field. In basketball, we compare Lebron James and Michael Jordan and argue on who the greatest player is. In any country, we look at the presidents from different eras and see who served better. Now, it would be great to compare two similar works of two composers from different eras and perspectives. It is comparing The Creation by Joseph Haydn and “The Beginning” by Lucrecia Kasilag.
First, it is important to look at the two composers and their backgrounds. In this way, it will show us how the works may possibly vary. Haydn from Austria is a famous composer and has inspired future generations. He grew up and was exposed in the European music scene. On the other hand, Lucrecia Kasilag hails all the way from Asia from the Philippines. She grew up in the time of the war, and was exposed to a country that was once colonized by the Spanish and is known to be a Catholic country. Thus, we find that making works in relation to religion is normal to them because of their upbringing and life.
Next, we look at the titles of the works. “In the Beginning” and The Creation are the works of Kasilag and Haydn, respectively. These two titles are similar in that both directly relate to the story in Genesis. The words "in the beginning" are the starting lines of Genesis 1, while "the Creation" is what people normally call the story of Genesis 1.
First, let us start with a general analysis of verses 11 to 13 from Kasilag's work and its corresponding verses from Haydn's. Both works actually have a verse based on Psalm 19:1. This particular verse talks about the glory of God in creating the world. Moreover, in Kasilag’s work, she is unclear with her overall tone as she does not specify the personas who sing the song. However, in Haydn’s, he specifies the angels who are speaking in his work. The clear differences of the two works can be seen in the words that were used. For “In the Beginning,” the word “he” was mainly used, while in the other, “God” was more often used.
Now, we look at the specific stanzas and compare them. It is first best to look at “XI Sun, Moon and Stars Shine Forth” and “And God said, let there be lights” of Kasilag's and Haydn's works, respectively. For Haydn’s work, we can see that it is similar to the book of Genesis. In Genesis, light was one of the first things introduced. Here, we can see that from Kasilag she uses “Sun, Moon and Stars” in a general way, contrary to the other work that gave something specific. The specificity provides the definition and function of all of these, while ignoring the general statements. “In the Beginning” contains a lot of praise on the work that has been created by God. The Creation shows the practicality of these creations.
In “The Beginning," the stanza with “He Makes Darkness as It is Night” talks about the use of night in the creation of the world. Here, the importance of the night is emphasized. The darkness of the night is not so bad after all, and this is a niche for other creatures. The next line is all about the Spirit that is sent upon during the beginning of time. We can see that “He” is God the Father, while “His Spirit” is the Holy Spirit. It is described on how the Spirit is crucial in His creations. Aside from that, there is also the function and uses of these creations. One example would be the “beast” and “drink,” that every creature should be taken care of. Then, there are the types of habitats such as “valleys” and “water,” where creatures can reside peacefully.
In In the Creation, we take a look at the stanza with “Let the waters.” This stanza talks about the importance of the function of land and water. There is the separation and definition of land and water. The line “and God saw that it was good," signifies that all of these were perfectly created to serve its purpose. There is also relevant comparison with one of Kasilag’s stanzas XIII of “In the Beginning” because of their similarities with the descriptions of the function of each creation. The difference, however, is that The Creation is more specific in terms of the usage.
By examining all of the factors of the two works, we can see that they are really similar in a lot of ways. Both were created beautifully and had a lot of inspiration from the Bible. Perhaps the usage of the Biblical references was because of how the Bible was created. When you carefully look at the Bible, you will see the usage of a lot of adjectives and colorful words in describing each event and person. That is why these two composers used this as a basis for their compositions. With such great inspiration from the Bible, both composers were able to imagine and create lot of different sounds using the Word of God.
Bibliography
“BibleGateway.” Acts 3:9-10 NIV - - Bible Gateway, Bible Gateway Blog,www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Psalm%2B19%3A1&version=NIV.Full Text of "Passing", London : F. Warne ; New York : Scribner, Welford, andArmstrong,archive.org/stream/wordsofhaydnsora00enfi/ wordsofhaydnsora00enfi_djvu.txt.
“Intro to Genesis.” The International Bible Society, 9 Nov. 2016, www.biblica.com/resources/scholar-notes/niv-study-bible/intro-to-genesis/.
“The Seasons Opus 67 - Autumn.” Classic FM, Classic FM,
www.classicfm.com/composers/haydn/.
“Welcome to Naxos Records.” History of Classical Music - Eras, www.naxos.com/person/Lucrecia_Roces_Kasilag/23491.htm.