Who invented the English oratorio?
Handel invented the English oratorio – dramas sung in English, often based on stories from the Bible. Oratorios became so popular that Handel abandoned writing Italian operas to focus wholly on composing them.
When was the English oratorio invented?
The oratorio as we know it was created in the 18th century. The words were normally in the composer’s own language, not in Italian like most operas were at that time. The word “oratorio” had been used many centuries ago for music-dramas performed in churches in western Europe.
How old is Handel’s Messiah?
The Baroque composer and organist was 74 years old. Handel was known for being a generous man, even in death. Having never married or fathered children, his will divided his assets among his servants and several charities, including the Foundling Hospital.
What language did oratorio enter English?
The word oratorio comes from the Latin verb orare, to pray. Hence oratory. The musical composition was “named from the kind of musical services held in the church of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rome (Congregazione dell’Oratorio) in the latter half of the 16th cent.”
Who wrote the oratorio The Messiah?
Where are oratorios performed?
These meetings, held in a prayer hall or ‘oratory’, rapidly spread to other churches and cities.By the early 17th century their music, based on biblical stories, had become more elaborately operatic, and the term oratorio took root.