Academic League Practice Test

The Creation is a major choral-oratorio by Joseph Haydn, completed in 1798. The text, prepared by Baron Gottfried van Swieten, blends the Genesis account with imagery inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost to describe the sequence of creation from darkness to light, the heavens and the earth, and the emergence of living beings. Haydn’s music uses vivid orchestral colors, dynamic contrasts, and expressive solos and choruses to paint these scenes—light breaking into darkness, birds singing, animals appearing, and humans finally being created—so the mood shifts with each moment of creation.

This work is characteristic of Haydn’s mastery of large-scale sacred storytelling, setting it apart from the other figures listed, who are associated with different periods and styles. Beethoven and Bach were not the composers of this piece, and Da Vinci was a painter rather than a composer, making Haydn the clear composer for The Creation.