oratorio
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.
Origin of oratorio
1Words Nearby oratorio
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use oratorio in a sentence
From the opening bar to the close of the oratorio the club members listened entranced.
The Leaven in a Great City | Lillian William BettsIt would be counted extravagant to buy a book, or a ticket to an oratorio or a concert to hear the best music.
The Leaven in a Great City | Lillian William BettsThis oratorio, as it strikes me, has certain qualities both of sentiment and of expression.
I was sitting as I should sit at an oratorio, in devout and rapt contemplation.
Parsifal | H. R. HaweisIf you can make use of the oratorio, I can send you all the parts written out, so that the outlay may be less for the poor.
Beethoven's Letters 1790-1826, Volume 1 of 2 | Lady Wallace
British Dictionary definitions for oratorio
/ (ˌɒrəˈtɔːrɪəʊ) /
a dramatic but unstaged musical composition for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, based on a religious theme
Origin of oratorio
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for oratorio
A musical composition for voices and orchestra, telling a religious story.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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