The Seasons (Haydn) comparable to that of "The Creation". In the years that followed, Haydn continued to lead oratorio performances for charitable causes, but it was usually "The Creation" that he led, not "The Seasons". The aging Haydn lacked the energy needed to repeat the labor of self-publication that he had undertaken for "The Creation" and instead assigned the new oratorio to his regular publisher at that time, Breitkopf & Härtel, who published it in 1802. "The Seasons" is written for a fairly large late-Classical orchestra, a chorus singing mostly in four parts, and three vocal soloists, representing archetypal country folk: Simon (bass),
The Creation (Haydn) The first deals with the creation of light, of heaven and earth, of the sun and moon, of the land and water, and of plants. The second treats the creation of the animals, and of man and woman. The final part describes Adam and Eve during their happy time in the Garden of Eden, portraying an idealized love in harmony with the "new world". The oratorio is described below, for each part by both a table of the movements and description of individual movements. As in other oratorios, the larger musical numbers (arias and choruses) are often prefaced with a