An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Musical composition is an original piece of Music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well For the musical composition see Chorale. A choir, chorale, or chorus is a Musical ensemble of Singers In Music, a solo (from the Italian solo, meaning alone) is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer The oratorio was somewhat modeled after the opera. Opera is an art form in which Singers and Musicians perform a Dramatic work (called an opera which combines a text (called a Libretto Their similarities include the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. This article is about the musical term "aria" For other meanings or uses of the word see Aria (disambiguation. However, opera is musical theatre, while oratorio is strictly a concert piece, though they are sometimes staged as operas. There is little or no interaction between the characters, no props or elaborate costumes. The term costume can refer to Wardrobe and dress in general or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people class or period The most important difference is their subject matter. Opera tends to deal with history and mythology, including age-old devices of romance, deception, and murder. History is the study of the past particularly the written record Those who study history as a Profession are called Historians Etymology The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" NOTICE TO WOULD-BE-ROMEOS*************** Deception (also called beguilement or subterfuge) is the act of convincing another to believe Information that is not true or not the whole truth as in Murder is the unlawful killing of another human person with Malice aforethought, as defined in Common Law countries There are many exceptions, including Saint Saens' opera, Samson et Dalila, Schoenberg's Moses and Aaron and others. Additionally, there are operas that deal with religious movements such as Meyerbeers Les Huguenots. The plot of an oratorio is often minimal and deals strictly with sacred subjects, making this form of entertainment acceptable and appropriate for performance in the church. SACRED was a Cubesat built by the Student Satellite Program of the University of Arizona. See also Entertainment (disambiguation and The Entertainer (disambiguation Entertainment is an activity designed to give people Protestant composers took their stories from the Bible, while Catholic composers looked to the lives of saints. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". A saint (from the Latin sanctus) is a human being to whom has been attributed (and who has generally demonstrated a high level of Holiness and Sanctity Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th century Italy partly because of the success of the opera and the Church's prohibition of spectacles during Lent. Lent, in some Christian denominations, is the forty-day-long liturgical season of fasting and prayer before Easter. Oratorios became the main option of musica during that period for opera buffs.
During the second half of the 17th century, there were trends toward the secularization of the religious oratorio. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar Secularization or secularisation generally refers to the process of transformation by which a Society migrates from close identification with religious institutions Evidence of this lies in its regular performance outside church halls in courts and public theaters. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Whether religious or secular, the theme of an oratorio is meant to be weighty. It could include such topics as a creation myth, the life of Jesus, or the career of a classical hero or biblical prophet. A creation myth is a supernatural mytho-[[religion religious]] story or explanation that describes the beginnings of humanity, Earth, life, and Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary Other changes eventually took place as well, possibly because most composers of oratorios were also popular composers of operas. They began to publish the librettos of their oratorios as they did for their operas. A libretto is the text used in an extended Musical work such as an Opera, Operetta, Masque, sacred or secular Oratorio and Strong emphasis was soon placed on arias while the use of the choir diminished. Female singers become regularly employed, and replaced the male narrator with the use of recitatives. A narrator (or the extremely rarely used female equivalent narratress) is within any story (literary work movie play verbal account etc Recitative /rɛsɪtə'tiv/ (also known by its Italian name "recitativo" (/retʃita'tivo/ is a style of delivery (much used in Operas Oratorios Eventually, Monteverdi composed Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda which is considered to be the first secular oratorio. Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda ( SV 153 is an operatic scena for three voices by Claudio Monteverdi. Secularity ( adjective form secular) is the state of being separate from Religion.
George Frideric Handel, most famous today for his Messiah, also wrote secular oratorios based on themes from Greek and Roman mythology. Messiah ( HWV 56 is an Oratorio by George Frideric Handel based on a Libretto by Charles Jennens. Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance Roman mythology, or more appropriately Latin mythology, refers to the mythological beliefs of the Italic people inhabiting the region of Latium and its He is also credited with writing the first English language oratorio.
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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. In Western music, motet is a word that is applied to a number of highly varied choral musical compositions There was a strong narrative, dramatic emphasis and there were conversational exchanges between characters in the work. G. Fanerio’s “teatro harmonico spirituale” is a set of 14 dialogues, the longest of which is 20 minutes long and covers the conversion of St. Paul and is for four soloists : Historicus(narator), tenor; St. Paul, tenor; Voice from Heaven, bass; and ananias, tenor. There is also a four part chorus to represent any crowds in the drama. The music is often contrapuntal and [[madrigal|madrigal-like]. Philip Neri’s Congegatione della Oratorio featured the singing of spiritual laude. St Philip Romolo Neri (Italian Filippo de Neri; also known as Apostle of Rome; July 22, 1515 – May 25, 1595 The Oratory of Saint Philip Neri is a congregation of Catholic Priests and Lay-brothers who live together in a community bound together by no formal "Lauda" redirects here For the former F1 racing driver see Niki Lauda. These became more and more popular and were eventually performed in specially built oratories (prayer halls) by professional musicians. Again, these were cheifly based on dramatic and narrative elements. Sacred opera provided another impetus for dialogues, and they greatly expanded in length (although never really beyond 60 minutes long). Cavilieri’s Rapprasentione di anima et di corpo is an example of one of these works, but technically it is not an oratorio because it features acting and dancing. It does, however contain music in the monodic style. In Poetry, the term monody has become specialized to refer to a poem in which one person laments another's death The first oratorio to be called by that name is Pietro della Valle’s “Oratorio della Purificatione” , but due to its brevity (only 12mins long) and the fact that its other name was “dialogue”, we can see that there was much ambiguity in these names.
By the mid-17th century, two types had developed:
Lasting about 30-60 minutes, oratorio volgares were performed in two sections, separated by a sermon; their music resembles that of contemporary operas and chamber cantatas. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Giacomo Carissimi (baptized April 18 1605 &ndash January 12 1674 was an Italian Composer, one of the most celebrated masters of the early Baroque, Marco Marazzoli ( Parma, 1602? - Rome, January 26, 1662) was an Italian composer Francesco Foggia ( 1604 - January 8, 1688) was an Italian composer of the Baroque. Luigi Rossi (ca 1597 - 20 February 1653) was an Italian Baroque Composer. A sermon is an oration by a Prophet or member of the Clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, or religious topic A cantata (derived from the Italian word 'cantare' meaning 'to sing' is a vocal composition with an instrumental Accompaniment and often
The most significant composer of oratorio latino is Giacomo Carissimi, whose Jephte is regarded as the first masterpiece of the genre. San Marcello al Corso is a church in Rome, devoted to Pope Marcellus I. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Like most other Latin oratorios of the period, it is in one section only.
Oratorios usually contain:
(ordered chronologically by year of premiere)