The Seven Last Words of Christ (Haydn) were not the original Latin but pietist poetry, written in German. Haydn was impressed with the new work and decided to improve on it, preparing his own choral version. He had the assistance of Baron Gottfried van Swieten, who revised the lyrics used by Friebert. This was the first work in a serial collaboration with van Swieten as librettist that continued with the later oratorios "The Creation" and "The Seasons". The choral version was privately premiered in Vienna on 26 March 1796 before an audience of the nobility, under the sponsorship of the Gesellschaft der Associierten. The public premiere was
The Creation of the Violin The Creation of the Violin "The Creation of the Violin" is a Transylvanian Roma fairy tale. It was first written down by in 1890 and included in his German book, "About the Travelling Gypsy People: Scenes of the Life of the Transylvanian Gypsies". A poor couple wishes in vain to have a child, and the wife complains about her misery to an old woman she meets in a forest. The hag sends her home with the instruction, "Go home and cut open a pumpkin, pour milk into it and drink it. You will then give birth to a boy who