The oratorio

An 18th century performance of an oratorio

An oratorio is a piece of music that tells a story based on scenes from the Bible.It is sung by a choir and is usually accompanied by a small group of instruments or group of instruments or by an orchestra.

Oratorios were developed by a group of church leaders who were trying to encourage more people to go to church. They belived that people would find stories from the Bible much more interesting if they were presented in this way.Opera was very popular at around this time,so many composers started to develop a musical style similar to opera for writing oratorios.

Hymn singing in the 19th century

Sometimes they added hymns and chorales.But oratorios were not intened to be performed on stage,and the singers do not wear costumes or act out the parts.The main parts are sung by soloists and the rest by the choir.

Imformation :Book name,Learn to Play more easy piano classics by caroline phipps

(ISBN 0-7460-1698-0)