The Origin The Origin The Origin is an opera/oratorio composed by Richard Einhorn to a libretto by Richard Einhorn and Catherine Barnett based on the writings of Charles Darwin. The oratorio takes its title from Darwin's 1859 "On the Origin of Species". The work was commissioned by the Artswego program and the Music Department of State University of New York at Oswego for the worldwide Darwin Bicentennial. "The Origin" had its world premiere on 6 February 2009 at the university's Waterman Theatre. The premiere performance of "The Origin" was conducted by Julie Pretzat and featured soprano Jacqueline Horner from the a cappella
On the Origin of Species its audience. From his early transmutation notebooks in the late 1830s onwards, Darwin considered human evolution as part of the natural processes he was investigating, and rejected divine intervention. In 1856, his "big book on species" titled "Natural Selection" was to include a "note on Man", but when Wallace enquired in December 1857, Darwin replied; "You ask whether I shall discuss 'man';—I think I shall avoid whole subject, as so surrounded with prejudices, though I fully admit that it is the highest & most interesting problem for the naturalist." On 28 March 1859, with his manuscript for the book well