Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
oratorio

oratorio

3 8.8
A large musical work for orchestra, choir, and solo singers, often about religious stories, performed without costumes or scenery
  • noun
  • /ˌɔːrəˈtɛrioʊ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : oratorio
  • She attended a performance of the oratorio "Elijah," which beautifully depicted the life of the prophet.

Always I hear a little oratorio inside my head.

Examples

  • The choir performed Handel's oratorio "Messiah" at the concert hall last night.

  • Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah was received as a worthy consort to Handel's Messiah.

    Academic text (1995)

  • A voice said, "Now hear Haydn's oratorio, The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross."

    Fiction book (1998)

  • I meant Handel's Messiah, the popular oratorio so often performed in Memphis churches and concert halls before Christmas and Easter.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Kieron accompanied me when I sang in the Christmas Oratorio at the parish church in Saffron Walden many years ago.

    Blog text (18)

  • Many audiences are captivated by the emotional depth of an oratorio like Bach's "St. Matthew Passion."

Synonyms

cantata
vsoratorio
  • Specialized
4 8.2

A musical piece for voices and orchestra often with religious words and performed without acting

is a larger vocal and orchestral work with choir and soloists for religious themes

How Large

oratorio
  • Specialized
3 8.8
cantata
  • Specialized
4 8.2
choral
1 7.6
song
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

oratorio singular
oratorios plural

Etymology

Oratorio comes from the Italian word oratorio, a place for prayer and small religious meetings, and from the Latin verb orare meaning 'to pray' or 'to speak'. Because these meetings used music but no acting or costumes, an oratorio became a large religious musical work for choir, soloists, and orchestra that is sung rather than staged.