Cistercian students join the Lafayette Musicians for Haydn’s Creation

By Amy White 
The Texas Catholic

“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”

These famous words open 18th century composer Joseph Haydn’s “The Creation,” a musical depiction of the Genesis tale considered one of the composer’s masterpieces.

The piece—which calls into mind the wonder of existence, the joy of creation, the glory of God, all through instrumentation and singing—will be performed by the Lafayette Musicians, accompanied by Cistercian Preparatory School students, on April 14 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Dallas.

The Lafayette Musicians is a Dallas-based group of professional musicians dedicated to the performance of sacred music. The group was formed by French conductor Matthieu du Motier, a parishioner of St. Ann Catholic Church in Coppell.

Du Motier grew up in France, the son of two musicians, with a childhood steeped in music. At the early age of four, he was already playing the violin. Later, he studied early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and conducted music in France and Switzerland for more than fifteen years.

“I have been working with the best early music ensembles in Europe for more than a decade,” du Motier said, “and I also conduct regularly two orchestras in the south of France.”

Du Motier’s passion for music, as well as his faith, eventually inspired him to move to the United States to create “what was really impossible in France:” a professional orchestra and choir dedicated solely to sacred music.

On Jan. 29, 2021, du Motier, his wife Celine, and their two young children moved to the Dallas-area. In 2022, du Motier created the Lafayette Musicians, named to honor the French hero of the American Revolution, Marquis de la Lafayette.

The first performance of the Lafayette Musicians, presented May 2023 at Christ the King, was titled “Handel and Lully on David’s Psalms.” Students from Cistercian joined the group to sing

“Thine be the Glory” during the concert. The second performance by the musicians was their “Early baroque treasures in candlelight” show, performed November 2023 at the Aldredge House Museum.

“The Lafayette Musicians perform concerts designed to fill audiences with a new and fresh impetus for faith,” du Motier said. “We want our music to plant beautiful seeds of faith, hope, and love in all who listen to our music.”

The Creation  
The Lafayette Musicians’ upcoming performance of “The Creation,” du Motier said, “will be the most ambitious piece we have ever played.” Violin, clarinet, cello, trombone—these and several other instruments will join with the choir and soloists to retell the story of creation.

“When the singer states, ‘And now God creates the big whale going into the waves,’ you really hear the instruments playing,” du Motier said of Haydn’s Creation. “Then he says, ‘And now you see the tiger that jumps in the forest,’ and you hear a violin playing like jumps.”

Among the performers will be more than 30 fifth and sixth grade students from Cistercian. These students will join the soprano and tenor parts for a portion of the concert.

Eric Lewis, music director at Cistercian Preparatory School, said the students are taking on a real challenge with this year’s performance—a greater challenge than their performance with the group in 2023.

“We’re singing three of the songs, so we’re really tripling our load in many ways—and in many ways more than tripling, because they’re very challenging pieces,” Lewis said, adding that both the tempo and the high notes require focus and mastery.

“The songs are very fast-paced, rhythmic. They’re very contrapuntal and polyphonic: very independent lines where they’re sort of weaving their melodies amongst the other parts,” Lewis said. “It also tends a little high. It can be challenging to blend the high notes, but they’ve been doing it to very good effect.”

The boys have been working on their parts, with all the included intricacies and difficulties, since January.

Reflecting upon the unique opportunity for the students to sing alongside professional musicians, Lewis said, “It’s a very informative, educational process… It’s very inspiring; and being in the midst of a professional choral setting and orchestra is really eye-opening.”

He added that by participating in the performance of “The Creation,” the students will be cooperating with God’s creation in a special way.

“The Creator God allows us to participate in, I would call it ‘sub-creation,’ especially when we can really put a lot of our thoughts and creativity into it,” Lewis explained. “In Haydn’s masterwork, ‘The Creation,’ even in composing it Haydn was taking part in creation, or sub-creation, by writing it; and we’re participating in that by performing it.”

Du Motier noted that the performance of “The Creation” will be preceded by a blessing from Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly. He also added that those in attendance will receive booklets explaining the historical and musical significance of the movements, “so they can really follow the story,” du Motier explained.

“With sacred songs and words and lyrics, we can be really touched,” du Motier said. “My dream is for families to attend these concerts, be exposed to the beautiful music of these great composers and be inspired in their faith.”

Editor’s note: The Lafayette Musicians’ performance of Haydn’s Creation will be held at 4:30 pm on April 14 at Christ the King Catholic Church, 8017 Preston Rd., Dallas, TX. Tickets may be purchased at www.lafayettemusicians.org.