Lexic.us

Definition of Oratorio

1. Noun. A musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a religious text.

Definition of Oratorio

1. n. A more or less dramatic text or poem, founded on some Scripture nerrative, or great divine event, elaborately set to music, in recitative, arias, grand choruses, etc., to be sung with an orchestral accompaniment, but without action, scenery, or costume, although the oratorio grew out of the Mysteries and the Miracle and Passion plays, which were acted.

Definition of Oratorio

1. Noun. (music) A musical composition on a religious theme; similar to opera but with no costume, scenery or acting. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Oratorio

1. a type of musical composition [n -RIOS]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Oratorio

Literary usage of Oratorio

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Modern Music and Musicians by Louis Charles Elson (1918)
"CHAPTER XX oratorio IN THE TIME OF BACH AND HANDEL Different Lines Taken by ... THE Italians enjoyed the distinction of giving the start to oratorio, ..."

2. The Oxford History of Music by William Henry Hadow (1902)
"CHAPTER V THE oratorio WE have now before us the means of tracing the pedigree ... For the early stages of development of the oratorio, the reader must be ..."

3. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and (1911)
"After Bach and Handel the history of oratorio becomes disjointed. The rise of the sonata style, which brought life to the opera, was almost wholly bad for ..."

4. The Singing of the Future by David Ffrangcon-Davies, David Thomas Ffrangcon- Davies (1905)
"THE vexed subject of "the dramatic" in oratorio ' is still before us. ... The singer's treatment of oratorio must, therefore, be dramatic; but it is equally ..."

5. University Musical Encyclopedia by Louis Charles Elson (1910)
"CHAPTER XXII oratorio AS AN ART-FORM Definitions—oratorio and ... Yet the oratorio is not reft of tendencies dramatic and personal. ..."

6. The New International Encyclopædia edited by Daniel Coit Gilman, Harry Thurston Peck, Frank Moore Colby (1903)
"In Germany the oratorio also developed from the mysteries. ... Not until 1623 do we meet another oratorio, Schutz's Die Auferstehung Christi. ..."

Other Resources: