Mats Norrman wrote:

>I go with Stirling and we recommed a listen to Gesualdo, a propos
>dissonance...

Can't go along with either of you, especially where Gesualdo is concerned.
The chromatic madrigals of the sixteenth century, while indeed dissonant,
would not have been readily known to audiences accustomed to typical
classical period practices.  I dare say that only a limited number of
people would have known Gesualdo, or Lasso's chromatic works at all.  The
point is, that an audience accustomed to common practice harmonic structure
would have thought it strange when they first heard Creation, regardless of
their like or dislike of it upon hearing.  This hair-splitting is coming
from a 20th century point of view and with 20th century scholarship taken
into account, and therefore, an irrelevant argument where the mind set of
Haydn's audience is concerned.

Kevin