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ORATORIO 



ORATORY 



'I'll'- effort to find a more dramatic vehicle of ex- 

 pression which had pn.xed in Florence the germ of 

 Opera (q.v.) was also lieing made in Koine by Kinilio 

 <lel Cavaliere. And liy a curious coincidence the 

 first oratorio anil tin- lii>t opMft(pnMclrMadlad) 

 were |>roilucc<l in the name year (1600) in these 

 two cities ( 'avaliere's oratorio, which was written 

 throughout in recitative style, was calleil La 

 Jiii/iprescntaxione def Anima e del Corjto, and the 

 directions for acting, dressing, and dancing, as well 

 as singing, show how entirely the conception of 

 oratorio has changed since its first rude Ix-ginning. 

 During the 17th century Carissimi ami Scarlatti 

 wrote many works full of expression, but the 

 Italians were, as a rule, more engrossed with 

 the development of opera. Indeed, save in such 

 expressive works as Carissimi's Jephthn, Stra- 

 della's John the /infitint, and the like, there is no 

 difference between o[>era and oratorio composition, 

 and it was among the graver nations of the North 

 that the oratono was to arrive at its maturity. 

 There the first and almost universal subject was 

 the Passion ; and to illustrate the story and direct 

 the meditations of the devout, Schutz, Graun, 

 Handel, and Bach employed all their skill _in 

 musical construction, and all the resources which 

 counterpoint, harmony, and orchestration could 

 afford them. Solid 'part- writing for voices is 

 absolutely necessary for such impressive and seri- 

 ous works as oratorios, and it is the neglect among 

 the Italians of the art they had brought to such 

 perfection during the 16th century which has 

 caused the crown to pass from Italy to Germany. 

 The greatest ' Passion Music ' is the St Matllicw, 

 written for service on Good Friday, 1729, by Seb. 

 Bach. It contains choruses, solos, and chorales ( in 

 which the congregation took part), all of surpassing 

 interest and beauty, and showing when requisite 

 great dramatic truth and force. And as this work 

 is the climax, so it is the close of passion music 

 development. 



The next and most important phase of oratorio was 

 the Epic, which liccame in Handel's giant hands 

 such a powerful instrument. Before he wrote Saul 

 and Israel in Eqypt ( 1739) he had written an early 

 oratorio in the I tali.-m, and Passions, &c. in the Ger- 

 man style. Between his arrival in England (1710) 

 and his abandonment of the opera he hod in no 

 fewer than forty-four operas accustomed himself 

 t" all the possibilities of vocal expression ; and his 

 Italian training, his studies in Germany, and his 

 varied experience eminently fitted him for his task. 

 In twelve years he composed fifteen grand oratorios 

 (Itrael in Egypt, Messiah, Samson, Judas Mac- 

 eabatis, Jos/ma, Solomon, Jephtha, &c. ), besides 

 several cantatas and anthems of almost oratorio 

 dimensions. The greatest is Israel in Egypt, with its 

 massive double chorus writing and ib* grand effects; 

 but the Messiah is a work which stands out not only 

 among oratorios, but in all musical literature as a 

 great inspiration. Pure inspiration it must indeed 

 have been, for it was written in twenty-four days ! 

 The great admiration for Handel's compositions in 

 England finds expression every three years in the 

 Handel Festival, held in London, at which the 

 Mtuinh, Itrael in Egypt, and a ' selection ' are 

 performed on a gigantic scale (about three thou- 

 sand singers and live hundred instrumentalists). 



Haydn heard Handel's works when he visited 

 England in 1791-92, and was incited to the com- 

 position of his great oratorio, the Creation (and 

 also the charming pastoral the Seasons, which 

 should scarcely be called an oratorio); in fact, 

 Handel has been the inspiration and model of 

 nearly all succeeding oratorios, as England, his 

 adopted country, has Ijeen oratorio's peculiar 

 home. There the unequalled choruses and the 

 general custom of choral festivals on a large scale 



offer numerous opportunities for producing familiar 

 masterpieces and inducements to compose new 

 works. For the Birmingham Festival of 1846 

 Mi-i >lelssohn wrote his masterpiece, the Elijah, a 

 work of great originality, which, however, owes 

 more to the influence of Biich than of Handel. St 

 Paul was produced at Diisseldorf ten years earlier. 



Daring orchestral colour and original effects 

 characterise Spohr's oratorios, Last Jur/yineitt 

 (1826), Calvary (1835), and The fall of ltby. 

 lun (1842). Modern oratorios take advantage 

 of the dramatic element which is so strong in tlie 

 music of the 19th century, and in many works 

 the name is modified (e.g. Dramatic Oratorio- 

 Mackenzie's Rose of Sharon, Parry's Judith, &c.) 

 or avoided (Sacred Trilogy Gounod's Reclemptinn, 

 Berlioz's Childhood of Christ, &c.). Dvorak's St 

 Ludmila and Liszt's St Elizabeth and Christus lean 

 more and more to the form of dramatic cantata, 

 of which Beethoven's Mount of Olives (miscalled 

 an oratorio), Schumann's Paradise and the Peri, 

 Sullivan's Golden Legend, and Mackenzie's Dream 

 of Jubal and Sayid are fine examples. 



To treat of the large field thus opened to modern 

 composers in the dramatic cantata, sacred and 

 secular, would lead us far beyond the limits of this 

 article ; reference must be made to musical dic- 

 tionaries, as well as, more strictly for Oratorio, 

 to Bitter's Gcschicfite des Oratorimns (1872), \Vun- 

 gemann's Geschichte des Oratoriiims (1882), Rock- 

 stro's careful article in Grove's Dictionary, and 

 Upton's Standard Oratorios (Chicago, 1887). 



Oratory of St Philip Xeri, CONGREGA- 

 TION OF THE. The origin of the Congregation of 

 the Oratory has lieen descrilied in the article on St 

 Philip Nen, its founder (see. NERI). Here some- 

 thing must be said of its constitution and work. 

 The primary idea of the institution was that its 

 members should be bound by no religions vows. 

 They were to be secular priests living together under 

 a common rule, and practising oliedience as free sub- 

 jects, with liberty to quit the community if they 

 so willed. Each father must contribute an annual 

 pension towards the upkeep of the house, and have, 

 moreover, a sufficiency of private means for his 

 personal expenses. Otherwise he has absolute 

 control over his own property. The government 

 of the congregation is of a remarkably republican 

 character. Each community is entirely independ- 

 ent, being subject to no mother-house or general- 

 superior. The community is composed of three 

 classes the novices, triennial and decennial 

 fathers. A memlier after passing his novitiate 

 becomes a triennial father, with a consultative voice 

 in the affairs of the congregation. On the com- 

 pletion of his tenth year he becomes a decennial 

 father, with a decisive vote. The superior, who 

 is generally spoken of as ' the Father,' is elected 

 every three years, and with him are elected four 

 deputies, who form a committee which meets weekly, 

 has the appointment of the other officers, distributes 

 the ecclesiastical work, and controls the ordinary 

 expenditure. But no large expenditure or new 

 undertaking can IMS entered upon without the 

 consent of the general congregation, where in 

 all cases the voting is by ballot. The father 

 superior, primus inter pares, has no privileges and 

 is exempt from no rules. He takes his turn in the 

 waiting at table in the refectory, and has his share- 

 in the work of the church. The principal religious 

 exercise of the community, beyond the duties 

 common to all priests, is* lialf-an-hour's mental 

 prayer in the evening followed by the litanies, for 

 which three times a week is substituted the taking 

 of ' the discipline ' or self-flagellation in a darkened 

 room. The ceremonial for this exercise will lie 

 found described in Hone's Ancient Mysteries. The 

 ministerial work of the Oratory consists chiefly iu 



