Barenreiter urtext - The oratorio The Creation represents not only a crucial point in Joseph Haydn‘s compositional output, but at the same time, marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the oratorio. At the turn of the 19th century, Haydn broke with the traditional dominance of the arias, giving the chorus a distinctly greater significance. This opened the way for a new kind of choral oratorio which became one of the standard features of developing bourgeois concert life.