Talk:The Creation structure

Latest comment: 13 years ago by Gerda Arendt in topic Language

Title

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Again the article needs renaming, probably to Structure of Haydn's ''The Creation''. I don't know howe much this is to be expanded, but at the moment it adds little to the main article, for all it's size. Johnbod (talk) 13:17, 3 October 2011 (UTC)Reply

Language

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In the first line, it says "German-language oratorio". Isn't this a complex issue? See The_Creation_(Haydn)#Libretto. I guess we don't have to repeat all of that in the header, but some mention of it being bilingually published. That might affect the names of the headers in the table below as well as the German text is also a "translation" (and the English a re-translation). I would just say "German Title" and "English Title".

Also, I notice that the English text for "Holde Gattin, dir zur Seite" is listed as "Sweet Companion" instead of "Graceful Consort". I know people have have had issues with van Swieten's English re-translation and there have been several efforts recently to re-re-translate it. I understand that, but many of the musical numbers are famously known by their original English titles. Something to consider.DavidRF (talk) 15:26, 5 October 2011 (UTC)Reply

Thank you, considering. Haydn composed it for German, and in Vienna it was sung in German. Although the libretto was derived from an English one, it had to be translated for London, because it had to match the music (syllables, stresses, vowel sounds ...). The first attempt was carried out by van Swieten (as far as I know) who was not really good enough in English. So various attempts of improvement are around. I followed the Oxford Edition (1991, quote: "Since the publication of the first edition with both English and German texts, the English has come under fire".), and think it might even be good to see different approaches. --Gerda Arendt (talk) 15:43, 5 October 2011 (UTC)Reply