First page of the first part of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (1734)

This is a chronological list of oratorios from the 16th century to the present. Unless otherwise indicated, all dates are those when the work was first performed. In some cases only the date of composition is known. In others, the oratorio has only been heard on a recording.

There is considerable overlap between the oratorio and the cantata, especially during the 19th century. The works listed below are those that have most often been referred to as oratorios.[1]

16th century

17th century

A recently discovered portrait, inscribed by the artist as representing Charpentier, but dating circa 1750,[2] about 40 years after his death.

18th century

First edition of Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans, the only one of his four oratorios to have survived
The final bars of the "Hallelujah" chorus, from Handel's Messiah, original manuscript

19th century

Worcester Cathedral, where Sullivan's The Prodigal Son premiered in 1869
Manuscript score of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, signed by Elgar and the performers of the premiere in 1900

20th century

The Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where John Adams's El Niño premiered in 2000

21st century

Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, where Jörg Widmann's Arche premiered in 2017

See also

References

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary: "A large-scale, usually narrative musical work for orchestra and voices, typically on a sacred theme and performed with little or no costume, scenery, or action."
  2. ^ "New Portrait". Ranumspanat.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  3. ^ Howard E. Smither, "Oratorio", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
  4. ^ Grijp, Louis and Jan Bloemendal, Jan (2011). "Vondel's Theatre and Music", Joost Van Den Vondel (1587–1679): Dutch Playwright in the Golden Age, pp. 150–151. Brill
  5. ^ Howard E. Smither. A History of the Oratorio, Vol. 1 (1977)
  6. ^ Andrew V. Jones, "Carissimi, Giacomo [Jacomo]", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
  7. ^ Randel, Don M. (1996). "Carissimi, Giacomo", The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, p. 136. Harvard University Press
  8. ^ Zöllner, Eva. 'Handel and English oratorio' in The Cambridge History of Eighteenth Century Music (2011)
  9. ^ Bartlett, Ian. ‘Boyce and the Early English Oratorio’. in The Musical Times, Vol. 120, No. 1634 (April 1979), pp. 293–297
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Upton, George P. The Standard Oratorios (1893)
  11. ^ a b S D Long and J Sawyer: The Bible in Music (2017), p.5
  12. ^ "Biography of the composer John Abraham Fisher". Artaria Editions. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Scholes, Percy A. 'The Century of Oratorio', in The Mirror of Music (1947), pp. 63–148
  14. ^ Shrock, Dennis (2009). Choral Repertoire, p. 458. Oxford University Press
  15. ^ C E Horsley, Gideon, score at IMSLP
  16. ^ Lea-Scarlett, EJ (1974). Packer, Charles Sandys (Stuart Shipley) (1810–1883), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 5, MUP
  17. ^ Maggie Humphreys, Robert C. Evans (1997). "Carter, William (1838 – ?)". Dictionary of composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 59. ISBN 9780720123302.
  18. ^ Fauquet, Joël-Marie (ed.) (1999). Correspondance de César Franck, pp. 114; 300. Editions Mardaga
  19. ^ Orr, N. Lee (2008). Dudley Buck, p. 98. University of Illinois Press
  20. ^ Landon, Robert Tallant (1974). Willard Patton, Friend of Music and Musicians, p. 5, Minnesota Musicians of the Cultured Generation, University of Minnesota
  21. ^ Simms, Bryan R. (2000). The Atonal Music of Arnold Schoenberg, 1908–1923, p. 169. Oxford University Press
  22. ^ "The dullest oratorio since Parry's Job", Constant Lambert, quoted in Lloyd Stephen. Beyond the Rio Grande (2014), p.493
  23. ^ Liran Gurkiewicz. Paul Ben-Haim: The Oratorio Joram and the Jewish Identity of a Composer, in Israel Studies in Musicology Online , Vol. 11, 2013/II
  24. ^ "Martin Shaw's Oratorio 'The Redeemer'". www.martinshawmusic.com. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  25. ^ "SALMANOV The Twelve, Big City Nights – NORTHERN FLOWERS NFPMA99116 [RB] Classical Music Reviews: March 2017 – MusicWeb-International". www.musicweb-international.com. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  26. ^ Good Music Guide
  27. ^ Ravas, Tammy, (2004). Peter Schickele: A Bio-Bibliography, p. 109. Greenwood
  28. ^ "Review". Gramophone. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  29. ^ The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music (2014)
  30. ^ 'Pott’s powerful oratorio returns to Three Choirs festival', in The Guardian, 26 July 2023
  31. ^ Birmingham Bach Choir recording, reviewed at MusicWeb International
  32. ^ "Chandos Records". Chandos Records. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  33. ^ Parthasarathy, Dhanya (10 July 2005). "Song across cultures". The Hindu. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  34. ^ a b "A New American Oratorio – PS Audio". Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  35. ^ Watkin, Daniel J. (12 September 2008). "Two Wars, Two Presidents, One Oratorio". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 11 February 2021.
  36. ^ "Dove: There was a child". Retrieved 22 April 2022 – via www.hyperion-records.co.uk.
  37. ^ Advent without cant, and carols in no man’s land Review of Advent Oratorio in the Church Times
  38. ^ Jayawardana, Ruwini (9 February 2011). "Buddha's life set to music" Archived 29 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine. Daily News. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  39. ^ Halsey, Simon (15 October 2011). "The premiere of Weltethos by Jonathan Harvey". Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  40. ^ Roderic, Dunnett (12 October 2012). "World needs room to breathe. Review: WELTETHOS, an 80-minute oratorio by Jonathan Harvey". Church Times, UK. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  41. ^ Colin Touchin - Choose the Light, Composer's Alliance
  42. ^ "Concerts (News)". Halifax Choral Society. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  43. ^ "Neil Hannon: my father's Alzheimer's was the inspiration behind To Our Fathers in Distress". The Guardian. 10 March 2014.
  44. ^ The Immortal, Boosey & Hawkes
  45. ^ "Hallé/Elder review – Jonathan Dove explains evolution … with singing galaxies". the Guardian. 20 June 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  46. ^ "Craig Hella Johnson on Turning Hate into Art | Berklee". www.berklee.edu. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  47. ^ "Gallipoli to the Somme – Pāho". University of Otago – Pāho. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  48. ^ "Bob Chilcott's Attractive New Oratorio Brings Christmas Early to Gloucester – Seen and Heard International". seenandheard-international.com. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  49. ^ "Music review: Christmas Oratorio, by James MacMillan (Amsterdam première)". www.churchtimes.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  50. ^ Rowe, Georgia (16 October 2019). "Carl Sagan inspired a new oratorio for Philharmonia Baroque". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  51. ^ "Wadada Leo Smith: Rosa Parks: Pure Love. An Oratorio of Seven Songs". Pitchfork. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  52. ^ 'Then it finally became the world premiere for Silent Earth', composer's website, 29 January, 2022
  53. ^ Holze, Guido. "Oratorium "Eins": Ein Gott, ein Glaube, eine Taufe". Retrieved 22 April 2022 – via www.faz.net.
  54. ^ "Permissions". Mosaic for Earth. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
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