Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

oratorio

American  
[awr-uh-tawr-ee-oh, -tohr-, or-] / ˌɔr əˈtɔr iˌoʊ, -ˈtoʊr-, ˌɒr- /

noun

plural

oratorios

  1. an extended musical composition with a text more or less dramatic in character and usually based upon a religious theme, for solo voices, chorus, and orchestra, and performed without action, costume, or scenery.

oratorio British  
/ ˌɒrəˈtɔːrɪəʊ /

noun

  1. a dramatic but unstaged musical composition for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, based on a religious theme

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
oratorio Cultural  

  1. A musical composition for voices and orchestra, telling a religious story.

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

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.

Harry Bicket and the English Concert presented the composer’s highly theatrical but little-known 1745 oratorio in an uneven but frequently arresting performance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Despite dealing with an oratorio, “The Choral” is more of a medley, briefly touching on one theme after another, but never convincingly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

Phil artist collaborator, began a three-year Handel festival with a dazzlingly sung and played performance of the oratorio “Triumph of Time and Disillusion.”

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 10, 2025

“My soul’s above the sea and whistling a dream,” he sang, a passage from the Nativity oratorio “El Niño” by John Adams, in which Tines makes his Met debut this month.

From New York Times • Apr. 16, 2024

Handel’s first English oratorio was Esther in 1732, performed in the King's Theatre in London’s Haymarket.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

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.