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An Oreo-whattio? This morning, an oration more communal than chocolate creme-filled cookies. Bach, Handel, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Kanye West all have something to say about opera's little brother.
Howdy, howdy, howdy! I’m Solomon Reynolds, and this is Saturday Morning Car Tunes! This morning...
Ore... whattio? Oratorio! They’re like operas—but not. Handel’s Messiah is probably the most performed oratorio (especially around Christmas), but what’s so special about ‘em? Oratorios developed alongside operas. They have singers, choruses, an orchestra, drama, but with two main differences. Operas have costumes and scenery; oratorios aren’t typically staged. That means oratorios are usually found in concert settings or churches. And oratorios are often sacred—that means their words are taken from holy stories, like the Bible. This is considered the first oratorio ever: Portrayal of the Soul and the Body by Emilio de’ Cavalieri.
One reason oratorios became popular was theaters were closed during Lent, a thoughtful period for Christians during the spring. Instead of operas, composers would write oratorios based on topics like Christmas or Easter for entertainment, like in Heinrich Schütz’s Christmas Historia. Berlioz wrote this music about the shepherds saying goodbye to the baby Jesus.
Besides Christmas, another popular topic for oratorios was the Passion, or the period leading up to the death of Jesus. Bach wrote the most famous Passion, based on the book of Matthew in the Bible. Haydn wrote an oratorio about the biblical creation of the world. Samuel Felsted was a Jamaican composer, and his oratorio about Jonah and the whale was so popular President George Washington even came to a performance. Mendelssohn wrote this based on the life of St. Paul, and it’s still used today as worship music in churches.
Oratorios can be still and calm, like from The Crucifixion by John Stainer. And they can be loud and rapturous, like from The Dream of Gerontius by Edward Elgar. Or from Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex, which is somewhere between an oratorio and an opera. Michael Tippett based his oratorio A Child of Our Time on Black American spirituals. Even Broadway has seen a few oratorios come through. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat started out as a children’s pop oratorio. In 2019, Kanye West wrote an opera about the biblical King Nebuchadnezzar, and it has a lot of similarities with oratorios, like its sacred subject matter, biblical readings, and importance of its chorus.
Oratorios are awe-inspiring.
I’m Solomon Reynolds. I write and produce Saturday Morning Car Tunes with research assistant Carolina Correa and audio engineer Stephen Page, only on Classical California. Tune in—or out of your car—next Saturday morning!
Happy holidays, and Merry Christmas!
