Oratorio: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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{{distinguish|Oratory (disambiguation){{!}}Oratory|Ontario}}

An '''oratorio''' ({{IPA|it|oraˈtɔːrjo}}) is a [[musical composition]] with [[Drama|dramatic]] or [[narrative]] text for [[choir]], [[Solo (music)|soloists]] and [[orchestra]] or other [[Musical ensemble|ensemble]].<ref name="OED">{{cite encyclopedia|title=oratorio, (n.)|year=2023|encyclopedia=[[Oxford English Dictionary]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|doi=10.1093/OED/8713946143|quote=A large-scale, usually narrative musical work for orchestra and voices, typically on a sacred theme and performed with little or no costume, scenery, or action.}}</ref>

An '''oratorio''' ({{IPA-it|oraˈtɔːrjo}}) is a large [[musical composition]] for [[orchestra]], [[choir]], and [[solo (music)|soloists]].<ref>[[Oxford English Dictionary]]: "A large-scale, usually narrative musical work for orchestra and voices, typically on a sacred theme and performed with little or no costume, scenery, or action."</ref> Like most [[opera]]s, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable [[Fictional character|characters]], and [[aria]]s. However, opera is [[musical theatre]], while oratorio is strictly a concert piece – though oratorios are sometimes staged as operas, and operas are sometimes presented in [[Concert version|concert form]]. In an oratorio, the choir often plays a central role, and there is generally little or no interaction between the characters, and no props or elaborate [[costume]]s. A particularly important difference is in the typical subject matter of the text. Opera tends to deal with [[history]] and [[mythology]], including age-old devices of [[Romantic love|romance]], [[deception]], and [[murder]], whereas the plot of an oratorio often deals with [[sacred]] topics, making it appropriate for performance in the [[church (building)|church]]. [[Protestant]] composers took their stories from the [[Bible]], while [[Catholic]] composers looked to the lives of [[saint]]s, as well as to Biblical topics. Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera and the Catholic Church's prohibition of spectacles during [[Lent]]. Oratorios became the main choice of music during that period for opera audiences.

Like most [[Opera|operas]], an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters (e.g. soloists), and [[Aria|arias]]. However, opera is [[musical theatre]], and typically involves significant [[Spectacle|theatrical spectacle]], including [[Theatrical scenery|sets]], [[Prop|props]], and [[Costume|costuming]], as well as staged interactions between characters. In oratorio, there is generally minimal [[Staging (theatre, film, television)|staging]], with the chorus often assuming a more central dramatic role, and the work is typically presented as a concert piece – though oratorios are sometimes staged as operas, and operas are not infrequently presented in [[Concert version|concert form]].

A particularly important difference between opera and oratorio is in the typical subject matter of the text. An opera [[libretto]] may deal with any conceivable dramatic subject (e.g. [[history]], [[mythology]], [[Nixon in China|Richard Nixon]], [[Anna Nicole|Anna Nicole Smith]] and the Bible); the text of an oratorio often deals with [[sacred]] subjects, making it appropriate for performance in the [[church (building)|church]], which remains an important performance context for the genre. [[Catholic]] composers looked to the lives of [[saint|saints]] and stories from the [[Bible]]. [[Protestant]] composers often looked to Biblical topics, but sometimes looked to the lives of notable religious figures, such as [[Carl Loewe|Carl Loewe's]] [[Jan Hus (oratorio)|"Jan Hus"]], an oratorio about the early reformer, [[Jan Hus]]. Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera and the Catholic Church's prohibition of [[spectacle|spectacles]] during [[Lent]]. Oratorios became the main choice of music during that annual period for opera audiences.{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

Conventionally, oratorio implies the sincere religious treatment of sacred subjects, such that non-sacred oratorio is generally qualified as '[[secular]] oratorio': a piece of terminology that would, in some historical contexts, have been regarded as [[oxymoron|oxymoronic]], or at least paradoxical,<ref name="SmitherVol2">{{cite book|last=Smither|first=Howard E.|title=A History of the Oratorio|volume=2: The Oratorio in the Baroque Era - Protestant Germany and England|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|page=350|quote=Seven works by Handel are sometimes classified as "secular oratorios": Acts and Galatea, Alexander's Feast, Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, L'Allegro, Semele, Hercules, and The Choice of Hercules.63 Nevertheless, none of these compositions was originally called an oratorio by its composer. '''In Handel's England the term secular oratorio was not used and would have seemed self-contradictory.''' Thus in a genre classification of Handel's works based on the terminology charac- teristic in England of his time, these seven compositions would be excluded from the oratorio category.}}</ref> and viewed with a degree of [[Scare quotes|scare-quoted]] skepticism.<ref name="MusicalTimes1878">{{cite journal|title=Rev. of ''[[Semele (Handel)|Semele]]''. An Oratorio. Edited... by Ebenezer Prout.|journal=[[The Musical Times]]|date=1 June 1878|volume=19|issue=424|doi=10.2307/3357342|page=338|jstor=3357342 |quote=For want of a better term this work may be called a 'Secular Oratorio;' but... Arnold, not wishing to style it an [[Opera]], mentions it as a 'dramatic performance' and certainly the nature of the ''libretto'' precludes the possibility of our surrounding it with any religious associations. [[Victor Schœlcher]], in his ''Life of Handel''... dwells on the absurdity of the feeling which, in the composer's time, prompted persons to forbid ''[[Esther (Handel)|Esther]]'' or ''[[Judas Maccabaeus (Handel)|Judas Maccabaeus]]'' to be played in action, whilst they could listen with equanimity to ''Semele'' even in [[Lent]], because it was 'after the manner of an Oratorio.'}}</ref> Despite this enduring and implicit context, oratorio on secular subjects has been written from the genre's [[#Origins|origins]].

==History==

===Etymology===

The word ''oratorio'' comes from the [[Latin]] verb ~~orare~~''ōrō'' (present infinitive ''ōrāre''), meaning to orate or [[public speaking|speak publicly]], to pray, or to beg or plead, related to the [[Attic Greek]] noun ἀρά (''ará'', “prayer”).<ref name="OED"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=ōrō|last=Lewis|first=Charles T.|encyclopedia=An Elementary Latin Dictionary|location=New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago|publisher=American Book Company|year=1890|via=[[Perseus Digital Library]], [[Tufts University]]|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0060:entry=oro}}</ref> (Hence the [[Oratory (~~worship~~disambiguation)|disambiguation entry for 'oratory']], including [[oratory (worship)]].) The musical composition was "named from the kind of musical services held in the church of the [[Oratory of St. Philip Neri]] in [[Rome]] (''Congregazione dell'Oratorio'') in the latter half of the 16th cent."~~<ref>''Oxford~~ The word is only attested in English ~~Dictionary~~from 1727, with the equivalent 'oratory' in prior use, from 1640.</ref name="OED"/>

===~~1600, origins~~Origins===

Although medieval plays such as the [[Ludus Danielis]] and [[Renaissance]] dialogue motets such as those of the [[Oltremontani]] had characteristics of an oratorio, the first oratorio is usually seen as [[Emilio de Cavalieri]]'s ''[[Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo]]'' (1600). [[Claudio Monteverdi|Monteverdi]] composed ''[[Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda]]'' (1624) which can be considered as the first [[secular]] oratorio.

The origins of the oratorio can be found in sacred dialogues in Italy. These were settings of Biblical, Latin texts and musically were quite similar to [[motets]]. There was a strong narrative, dramatic emphasis and there were conversational exchanges between characters in the work. [[Giovanni Francesco Anerio]]'s ''Teatro harmonico spirituale'' (1619) is a set of 14 dialogues, the longest of which is 20 minutes long and covers the [[Conversion of Paul the Apostle|conversion of St. Paul]] and is for four soloists: Historicus (narrator), [[tenor]]; [[Paul the Apostle|St. Paul]], tenor; Voice from Heaven, [[Bass (voice type)|bass]]; and [[Ananias of Damascus|Ananias]], tenor. There is also a four-part chorus to represent any crowds in the drama. The music is often contrapuntal and [[madrigal (music)|madrigal-like]].

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===1650–1700===

During the second half of the 17th century, there were trends toward the ~~[[secularization]]~~performance of the religious oratorio. ~~Evidence of this lies in its regular performance~~also outside [[Church (building)|church]] halls in courts and public [[theater|theaters]]s. ~~Whether religious or secular, the~~The theme of an oratorio is meant to be weighty. It could include such topics as [[Genesis creation myth|Creation]], the life of [[Jesus]], or the career of a classical hero or Biblical [[Prophets of Christianity|prophet]]. Other changes eventually took place as well, possibly because most composers of oratorios were also popular composers of operas. They began to publish the [[libretto|librettos]]s of their oratorios as they did for their operas. Strong emphasis was soon placed on arias while the use of the choir diminished. Female singers became regularly employed, and replaced the male [[narrator]] with the use of [[recitative|recitatives]]s.

By the mid-17th century, two types had developed:

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* ''oratorio latino'' (in [[Latin]]) – first developed at the [[Oratorio del Santissimo Crocifisso]], related to the church of [[San Marcello al Corso]] in [[Rome]].

The most significant composers of ''oratorio latino'' were in Italy [[Giacomo Carissimi]], whose ''[[Jephte (Carissimi)|Jephte]]'' is regarded as the first masterpiece of the genre (like most other Latin oratorios of the period, it is in one section only), and in France Carissimi's pupil [[Marc-Antoine Charpentier]] (34 works H.391 - H.425).

* ''oratorio volgare'' (in [[Italian language|Italian]]) – representative examples include:

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** similar works written by [[Francesco Foggia]], [[Luigi Rossi]], [[Alessandro Stradella]]

Lasting about 30–60 minutes, ''oratori volgari'' were performed in two sections, separated by a [[sermon]]; their music resembles that of contemporary operas and chamber [[cantata|cantatas]]s.

===Late baroque===

In the late [[Baroque|baroque period]] oratorios increasingly became "sacred opera". In Rome and Naples [[Alessandro Scarlatti]] was the most noted composer. In Vienna the court poet [[Metastasio]] produced annually a series of oratorios for the court which were set by [[Antonio Caldara|Caldara]], [[Johann Adolph Hasse|Hasse]] and others. Metastasio's best known oratorio libretto ''[[La passione di Gesù Cristo]]'' was set by at least 35 composers from ~~1730–90~~1730 to 1790. In Germany the middle baroque oratorios moved from the early-baroque ''Historia'' style Christmas and Resurrection settings of [[Heinrich Schütz]], to the Passions of [[J. S. Bach]], oratorio-passions such as ''[[Der Tod Jesu]]'' set by [[Telemann]] and [[Carl Heinrich Graun]]. After Telemann came the galante oratorio style of [[C. P. E. Bach]].

===Georgian Britain===

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}}

The [[Georgian era]] saw a German-born monarch and German-born composer define the English oratorio. [[George Frideric Handel]], most famous today for his ''[[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]]'' (1741), also wrote other oratorios based on themes from [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]] and Biblical topics. He is also credited with writing the first English language oratorio, ''[[Esther (Handel)|Esther]]''. Handel's imitators included the Italian [[Lidarti]] who was employed by the Amsterdam Jewish community to compose a Hebrew version of ''Esther''.

===Classicism===

[[Joseph Haydn]]'s ''[[The Creation (Haydn)|The Creation]]'' (1798) and ''[[The Seasons (Haydn)|The Seasons]]'' (1801) have remained the most widely known oratorios from the period of classicism. While the first of these Händel inspired works draws from the religious theme of creation, the second is more secular, containing songs about industry, hunting and wine.

===Victorian era===

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===20th century===

Oratorio returned haltingly to public attention with [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Oedipus rex (opera)|Oedipus Rex]]'' in Paris (1927), [[William Walton]]'s ''[[Belshazzar's Feast (Walton)|Belshazzar's Feast]]'' in Leeds (1931), [[Paul Hindemith]]'s ''Das Unaufhörliche'' in Berlin (1931), [[Arthur Honegger]]'s ''[[Le Roi David]]'' and ''[[Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher]]'' in Basel (1938), and [[Franz Schmidt (composer)|Franz Schmidt]]'s ''[[The Book with Seven Seals (oratorio)|The Book with Seven Seals]]'' (''Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln'') in Vienna (1938). [[Michael Tippett]]'s oratorio ''[[A Child of Our Time]]'' (first performance, 1944) engages with events surrounding the [[Second World War]]. Postwar oratorios include [[Dmitri Shostakovich]]'s ''[[Song of the Forests]]'' (1949), [[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s ''[[On Guard for Peace]]'' (1950), [[Vadim Salmanov]]'s ''Twelve'' (1957), [[Alfred Schnittke]]'s ''[[Nagasaki (Schnittke)|Nagasaki]]'' (1958), [[Bohuslav Martinů]]'s ''[[The Epic of Gilgamesh (Martinů)|The Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' (1958), [[Krzysztof Penderecki]]'s ''[[St Luke Passion (Penderecki)|St. Luke Passion]]'' (1966), {{clarify|date=August 2016}} [[Hans Werner Henze]]'s ''[[Das Floß der Medusa]]'' (1968), [[René Clemencic]]'s ''Kabbala'' (1992), and [[Osvaldo Golijov]]'s ''[[La Pasión según San Marcos (Golijov)|La Pasión según San Marcos]]'' (2000).{{clarify|date=August 2016}} [[Mauricio Kagel]] composed ''[[Sankt-Bach-Passion]]'', an oratorio about Bach's life, for the tercentenary of his birth in 1985.

Oratorios by popular musicians include [[Léo Ferré]]'s ''[[La Chanson du mal-aimé]]'' (1954 and 1972), based on [[Guillaume Apollinaire]]'s poem of the same name, [[Paul McCartney]]'s ''[[Paul McCartney's Liverpool Oratorio|Liverpool Oratorio]]'' (1991), and [[Mikis Theodorakis]]'s ''[[Canto General (1975 album)|Canto General]]'' and [[Axion Esti]], based on poems of [[Pablo Neruda]] and [[Odysseas Elytis|Odusseas Elytis]].

===21st century===

When [[Dudley Buck]] composed his oratorio ''[[The Light of Asia (oratorio)|The Light of Asia]]'' in 1886, it became the first in the history of the genre to be based on the life of [[Buddha]].<ref>Smither, Howard E. (2000). [https://books.google.com/books?id=Khz3kZNd0Z8C~~&pg=PA463&lpg=PA463~~&dq=Buddhist+oratorio&~~source~~pg=~~bl&ots=GAcs5FcY2m&sig=RuPVy3V3nG4lOc1zSGscg4hgDcU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fleDUcykM6mY0QXur4CQCQ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Buddhist%20oratorio&f=false~~PA463 ''A History of the Oratorio: The Oratorio in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries''], pp. 453 and 463. University of North Carolina Press. {{ISBN|0807825115}}</ref> Several late 20th and early 21st-century oratorios have since been based on Buddha's life or have incorporated Buddhist texts. These include [[Somei Satoh]]'s 1987 ''Stabat Mater'',<ref>''[[The New York Times]]'' (3 April 1987). [https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/03/arts/oratorio-merges-christ-and-buddha.html "Oratorio Merges Christ and Buddha"]. Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref> [[Dinesh Subasinghe]]'s 2010 ''[[Karuna Nadee]]'', and [[Jonathan Harvey (composer)|Jonathan Harvey]]'s 2011 ''Weltethos''.<ref>Clements, Andrew (22 June 2012). [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jun/22/weltethos-review "''Weltethos'' – review"]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. Retrieved 3 May 2013.</ref> The 21st century also saw a continuation of Christianity-based oratorios with [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]]'s ''[[El Niño (oratorio)|El Niño]]'' and ''[[The Gospel According to the Other Mary]]''. Other religions represented include [[Ilaiyaraaja]]'s ''[[Thiruvasakam in Symphony|Thiruvasakam]]'' (based on the texts of [[Hinduism|Hindu]] hymns to [[Shiva]]). Secular oratorios composed in the 21st century include [[Nathan Currier]]'s ''[[Gaian Variations]]'' (based on the [[Gaia hypothesis]]), [[Richard Einhorn]]'s ''[[The Origin (Einhorn)|The Origin]]'' (based on the writings of [[Charles Darwin]]), [[Jonathan Mills (composer)|Jonathan Mills]]' ''Sandakan Threnody'' (based on the [[Sandakan Death Marches]]), ~~and~~ [[Neil Hannon]]'s ''To Our Fathers in Distress'', and [[David Lang (composer)|David Lang]]'s [[The Little Match Girl Passion]] (2008). The oratorio ''[[Laudato si' (oratorio)|Laudato si']]'', composed in 2016 by [[Peter Reulein]] on a [[libretto]] by [[Helmut Schlegel]], includes the full Latin text of the [[Magnificat]], expanded by writings of [[Clare of Assisi]], [[Francis of Assisi]] and [[Pope Francis]].<ref name="LS-score">{{cite book | last1 = Reulein | first1 = Peter | author-link = Peter Reulein | last2 = Schlegel | first2 = Helmut | author-link2 = Helmut Schlegel | title = Laudato si' / Ein franziskanisches Magnificat | publisher = [[Patrick Dehm|Dehm Verlag]] | location = [[Limburg an der Lahn]] | year = 2016 | isbn = 978-3-943302-34-9 | pages = 230 | ismn = 979-0-50226-047-7}}</ref><ref name="Laudato si-Liebfrauen">{{Cite web | url = http://www.liebfrauen.net/meldung_volltext.php?si=5807238ed0bee&id=57f955bfc9ddd&view=&lang=&akt=musikkunstkultur_musikmeldungen&k1=main&k2=musikkunstkultur&k3=musikmeldungen&k4= | title = Festkonzert zum Jubiläum des Referates Kirchenmusik / Laudato si' – Oratorium von Peter Reulein (Uraufführung) | publisher = [[Liebfrauen, Frankfurt]] | year = 2016 | language = de | access-date = 19 October 2016}}</ref> ''[[Bruder Martin]]'' was composed by [[Thomas Gabriel (composer)|Thomas Gabriel]], setting a text by [[Eugen Eckert]] about scenes from the life of [[Martin Luther]], for the 500th anniversary of the [[Reformation]] in 2017.<ref name="Strube">{{Cite web

| url = https://www.strube.de/uploads/tx_eshop/I6946.pdf

| title = Bruder Martin – Luther-Musical-Oratorium in sieben Bildern und einem Prolog

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| language = de

| access-date = 10 October 2020

}}</ref> In 2017, [[Jörg Widmann]]'s oratorio [[Arche (oratorio)|ARCHE]] premiered. A transfer of sacrality to secular contexts takes place.<ref name="Groote">{{cite book | last=Groote | first=Inga Mai | title=Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Europäische Geschichte Mainz Beihefte | chapter=The Sound of the Sacred. Transfers of Sacrality in Contemporary Choral Music | chapter-url = https://www.vr-elibrary.de/doi/pdf/10.13109/9783666302459.103 | publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht | publication-place=Göttingen | volume=140 | date=9 October 2023 | pages=103–116 | isbn=978-3-525-30245-3 | doi=10.13109/9783666302459.103}}</ref>

~~}}</ref>~~

==See also==

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* Deedy, John. ''The Catholic Fact Book''. Chicago, IL: Thomas Moore Press, 1986.

* ''[[Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|Grove Music Online]]'', ed. L. Macy, [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000004099 grovemusic.com] (subscription access).

* Hardon, John A. ''Modern Catholic Dictionary.'' Garden City, NY: ~~Double Day~~Doubleday and Co. Inc., 1980.

* ''New Catholic Encyclopedia.'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967.

* Randel, Don. "Oratorio". ''The Harvard Dictionary of Music.'' Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press, 1986.

* McGuire, Charles Edward. ''Elgar's Oratorios: The Creation of an Epic Narrative''. Aldershot: Ashgate Press, 2002.

* McGuire, Charles Edward. "Elgar, Judas, and the Theology of Betrayal." In ''19th-Century Music'', vol. XXIII, no. 3 (Spring, 2000), pp. 236–272.

* [[George Putnam Upton|Upton, George P]]. ''[https://www.gutenberg.org/files/22793/22793-h/22793-h.htm The Standard Oratorios]'', Chicago, 1893

* Gilman, Todd S. "Handel's ''[[Hercules (Handel)|Hercules]]'' and Its Semiosis." [[The Musical Quarterly]], [[Oxford University Press]], Vol. 81, No. 3 (Autumn 1997): pp. 449-481. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/742326 JSTOR]