How serious is classical music?

A diplomat from the Swedish Embassy in Vienna recalled the moment when Joseph Haydn performed an aria from The Creation in D major, which depicts the roaring sea and the rising cliffs.

“You see, the notes move like the waves: up and down,” he said cheerfully. “Look, here are the mountains. Sometimes one must play a little, too, after being so serious for so long.”

Performance of Haydn’s The Creation, March 27, 1808, in the new lecture hall of the University of Vienna. Based on a watercolor by Balthasar Wigand.

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