oratorio
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of oratorio
1625–35; < Italian: small chapel < Late Latin ōrātōrium oratory 2; so named from the musical services in the church of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rome
Explanation
An oratorio is a musical piece that is usually lengthy and based on some Biblical or religious event. It is a performance for voice and orchestra, but the story is told through the music, and not with scenery, costumes, and action. In Rome, musical services were presented in the church of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. An oratory, from the Latin word oratorium, meant "place of prayer." These sorts of musical services spawned the type of music known as oratorios. Handel's Messiah is a well known oratorio that is often performed at Christmas. You are probably familiar with the part that goes "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"
Vocabulary lists containing oratorio
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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2015 Spelling Bee - Words from Round 2
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Body Language: Or, Os ("Mouth")
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Along the way, he tinkered with classical music on 1991's Liverpool Oratorio and released a series of dance albums as The Fireman.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
And on Dec. 19, the Oratorio Society of New York, continuing one of the Hall’s longest performance streaks, will perform Handel’s “Messiah,” as it has almost every year since 1891.
From New York Times • Dec. 1, 2022
Last Whispers — Oratorio for Vanishing Voices, Collapsing Universes and a Falling Tree This immersive film and sound composition conceived and directed by Lena Herzog laments extinct and endangered languages.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 9, 2019
He is one of the finest modern conductors of Bach; with the Dunedin Consort, based in Edinburgh, he has made incisive, expressive recordings of the Passions, the B-Minor Mass, and the Christmas Oratorio.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 25, 2016
Two days before the giving of the Oratorio, Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit Smith came to the Settlement and gave a recital.
From The Leaven in a Great City by Betts, Lillian William
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
