Oratorio Dell'ex Collegio Dei Gesuiti Di Alcamo 08
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An oratorio () is a
musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...
with dramatic or
narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
text for
choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...
, soloists and
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...
or other ensemble. Similar to
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters (e.g. soloists), and
arias In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompaniment, normally part of a larger ...
. However, opera is
musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
, and typically involves significant theatrical spectacle, including sets,
props A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...
, and
costuming Costume is the distinctive style of dress and/or makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used to describe typical ...
, as well as staged interactions between characters. In oratorio, there is generally minimal
staging Staging may refer to: Computing * Staging (cloud computing), a process used to assemble, test, and review a new solution before it is moved into production and the existing solution is decommissioned * Staging (data), intermediately storing data b ...
, 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 form. A particularly important difference between opera and oratorio is in the typical subject matter of the text. An opera
libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
may deal with any conceivable dramatic subject (e.g.
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
,
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
,
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
,
Anna Nicole Smith Vickie Lynn Marshall (née Hogan; November 28, 1967 – February 8, 2007), known professionally as Anna Nicole Smith, was an American model, actress, and television personality. Smith started her career as a ''Playboy'' magazine centerfold in M ...
and the Bible); the text of an oratorio often deals with
sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
subjects, making it appropriate for performance in the
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
, which remains an important performance context for the genre.
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
composers looked to the lives of
saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...
and stories from the
Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...
.
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
composers also often looked to Biblical topics, but sometimes looked to the lives of notable religious figures, such as Carl Loewe's "Jan Hus", an oratorio about the early reformer,
Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...
. Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera and the Catholic Church's prohibition of
spectacles Glasses, also known as eyeglasses (American English), spectacles (Commonwealth English), or colloquially as specs, are Visual perception, vision eyewear with clear or tinted lens (optics), lenses mounted in a frame that holds them in front ...
during
Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...
. Oratorios became the main choice of music during that annual period for opera audiences. Conventionally, oratorio implies the sincere religious treatment of sacred subjects, such that non-sacred oratorio is generally qualified as '
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
oratorio': a piece of terminology that would, in some historical contexts, have been regarded as oxymoronic, or at least paradoxical, and viewed with a degree of scare-quoted skepticism. Despite this enduring and implicit context, oratorio on secular subjects has been written from the genre's
origins Origin(s) or The Origin may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics and manga * ''Origin'' (comics), a Wolverine comic book mini-series published by Marvel Comics in 2002 * ''The Origin'' (Buffy comic), a 1999 ''Buffy the Vampire Sl ...
.


History


Etymology

The word ''oratorio'' comes from the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
verb ''ōrō'' (present infinitive ''ōrāre''), meaning to orate or speak publicly, to pray, or to beg or plead, related to the
Attic Greek Attic Greek is the Greek language, Greek dialect of the regions of ancient Greece, ancient region of Attica, including the ''polis'' of classical Athens, Athens. Often called Classical Greek, it was the prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige diale ...
noun ἀρά (''ará'', “prayer”). (Hence the disambiguation entry for 'oratory', including
oratory (worship) In the canon law of the Catholic Church, an oratory is a place which is set aside by permission of an ordinary for divine worship, for the convenience of some community or group of the faithful who assemble there, but to which other members of t ...
.) The musical composition was "named from the kind of musical services held in the church of the
Oratory of St. Philip Neri The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri (), abbreviated C.O. and commonly known as the Oratorians, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men (priests and religious brothers) who live together in a commun ...
in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
(''Congregazione dell'Oratorio'') in the latter half of the 16th cent." The word is only attested in English from 1727, with the equivalent 'oratory' in prior use, from 1640.


Origins

Although medieval plays such as the
Ludus Danielis The ''Play of Daniel'', or ''Ludus Danielis'', is either of two medieval Latin liturgical dramas based on the biblical Book of Daniel, one of which is accompanied by monophonic music. Surviving plays The play itself dates from c. 1140. Two mediev ...
and
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
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 Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
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. Philip Neri's Oratory of Saint Philip Neri, Congregazione dell'Oratorio featured the singing of spiritual laude. These became more and more popular and were eventually performed in specially built oratory (worship), oratories (prayer halls) by professional musicians. Again, these were chiefly 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). Cavalieri's ''Rappresentatione 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. The first oratorio to be called by that name is Pietro della Valle's ''Oratorio della Purificazione'', but due to its brevity (only 12 minutes long) and the fact that its other name was "dialogue", we can see that there was much ambiguity in these names.


1650–1700

During the second half of the 17th century, there were trends toward the performance of the religious oratorio also outside Church (building), church halls in courts and public theater, theaters. 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 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. By the mid-17th century, two types had developed: * ''oratorio latino'' (in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
) – first developed at the Oratorio del Santissimo Crocifisso, related to the church of San Marcello al Corso in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. 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: ** Giacomo Carissimi's ''Daniele'' ** Marco Marazzoli's ''S Tomaso'' ** 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.


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 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

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

Britain continued to look to Germany for its composers of oratorio. The Birmingham Festival commissioned various oratorios including Felix Mendelssohn's ''Elijah (oratorio), Elijah'' in 1846, later performed in German as ''Elias''. German composer Georg Vierling is noted for modernizing the secular oratorio form. John Stainer's ''The Crucifixion (Stainer), The Crucifixion'' (1887) became the stereotypical battlehorse of massed amateur choral societies. Edward Elgar tried to revive the genre around the turn of century with the composition of ''The Light of Life'' (''Lux Christi''), ''The Dream of Gerontius'', ''The Apostles (Elgar), The Apostles'' and ''The Kingdom (Elgar), The Kingdom''.


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), 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). 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. 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'', Dinesh Subasinghe's 2010 ''Karuna Nadee'', and Jonathan Harvey (composer), Jonathan Harvey's 2011 ''Weltethos''.Clements, Andrew (22 June 2012)
"''Weltethos'' – review"
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
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), 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 A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...
by Helmut Schlegel, includes the full Latin text of the Magnificat, expanded by writings of Clare of Assisi, Francis of Assisi and Pope Francis. ''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. In 2017, Jörg Widmann's oratorio Arche (oratorio), ARCHE premiered. A transfer of sacrality to secular contexts takes place.


See also

* List of oratorios * Passion music, Passion * Music for the Requiem Mass * Mass (liturgy) * Mass (music) * Oratorio Society (disambiguation)


References

* Bukofzer, Manfred F. ''Music in the Baroque Era.'' New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Co., Inc, 1947. * Smither, Howard. ''The History of the Oratorio.'' vol. 1–4, Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of N.C. Press, 1977–2000. * Deedy, John. ''The Catholic Fact Book''. Chicago, IL: Thomas Moore Press, 1986. * ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Grove Music Online'', ed. L. Macy
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). * Hardon, John A. ''Modern Catholic Dictionary.'' Garden City, NY: 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.
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
JSTOR
{{Use dmy dates, date=March 2017 Oratorios, Classical music styles