OR'ATO'RIO (Ital., oratory). A form of sacred music chiefly (Tic in character, consisting of elmoruse, and soli accompanied by the or chestra, and generally preceded by an instill mental overture. The name is derived from the oratory of churches, where the first performances took place. The full title of such a work was ' Ruppo'csentamone per it oratorio. Gradually the name of the place canoe to be used for the art form itself. The (originator of the oratorio is l'hilip Neri (q.v.), who, soon after his ordina tion to the priesthood (1531), began a series of public lectures on Bible history. In order to make his talks more interesting, Nevi engaged the services of Aninmecia, the master of the Papal (Impel, who composed so-called Laud; Spirit uali (hymns) for these lectures. The sueeess of this undertaking was pronounced. After the death of Aninmeeia no less a master than Palestrina furnished the music. At the beginning these Luudi had but a loose connection with the suh jeet matter of the lecture, but they soon grew into a kind of mystery with moralizing tendencies. The characters generally were personifications of abstraet ideas. The first work of this kind was Cavalieri's c corpo (1600), in which the composer makes use of the new kind of reeita tive that had just then been originated by the founders of the Florentine musical drama (sti/o rappresentativo). These first oratorios were called Azioni sueri, and differed in nothing from operas except in choice of the subjects. Even the ballet is introduced. Carissimi (1604-74) ban ished scenery and acting from these perform ances. But to compensate be introduced the character of the historicus (later called narrator), a person who sang the narrative portions of the text. Alessandro Searlatti (1659-1725) intro duced the aria into the oratorio, thus reliev ing the monotony of the purely declamatory style of his predecessors. For the passages as signed to the narrator he wrote Reeitatiro seceo. Along these lines followed Caldara, Leo, and Straddle.
In Germany the oratorio also developed from the mysteries. The earliest work of this kind is Stephani's Passio secundum Matthwuta (1570), but it remained the only one for some time. Not until 1623 do we meet another oratorio, Schfitz's Die Auferstehung Christi. Whereas the Italian composers favored the new monodic style, Selditz clung to the polyphonie manner to such an extent that the words of a single personage, the Evangelist, were set to a chorus with elabo rate accompaniment. his second oratorio was Die sieben Worte Christi. The subject matter of these oratorios indicated the direction in which that form was to develop in Germany, for all suc ceeding composers limited themselves to the story of the Passion of Christ. Thus the oratorio be
came the passion oratorio, or briefly the passion. In 1704 two oratorios appeared in Hamburg, oue by Keiser, the other by Handel, which at tracted the attention of other composers, espe cially Alattheson (1681-l764) and Telemann ( 681-1767 ). These works placed the oratorio upon a higher level than it had attained in Italy. The German masters, while not repudiating the monodic style, worked in the polyphonic style and won great popularity for the new art-form by the frequent use of the chorale (q.v.). They even employed phrases of chorales as subjects for the fugues. The way was now prepared for Bach (1685-1750), in whose Passion According to Saint Matthew the form found its loftiest expression (1729). into some of the choruses a contempla tive element is introduced, consisting of medita tions upon the events just narrated. After Bach only one other composer, Graun (1701-59), wrote a passion that->has not fallen into oblivion. This was Der Tod jesu (] 755).
In Hamburg Handel had written a German passion. Four years later, in Italy, he wrote two oratorios: 11 trionfo del tempo r rlrI disen ganno, an allegorical work entirely after the man ner of Carissimi; and La Resurrezione, a real Italian oratorio like those of Searlatti. In 1716 he wrote one other German passion. All these works were only a preparation for his great Eng lish oratorios., upon which the fame of Handel (1685-1759) rests, and which to this day mark the perfection of this art-form. When the mas ter wrote his first English oratorio, Esther (1720), he had completely formed his style. The excellent choruses which were at his disposal in London led him to assign the chief portions of the oratorio to the chorus. And it is just in these numbers that Handel's genius shines most. In the masterly treatment of vocal fugues Handel stands without a rival, as does Bach in his mastery over the instrumental fugue. The chorus is used for various purposes; sometimes it. is contemplative, as in Bach's passion, at other times didactic, teaching a mond lesson; then again he uses it in a dramatic manner to mark a climax, and again at times for descriptive or narrative purposes. In the matter of the aria forms Handel does not. hesitate to employ all the various kinds in common use then in the opera, even the bravura-aria. The recitative is gen erally the dramatic recitative; the recitntiro scceo is practically banished, for it appears only in very short numbers, and even then with chang ing harmonies. His subjects Handel chose from the whole range of biblical history, a proceeding that has been followed by all subsequent com posers of oratorios.