Because I post stupid shit that doesn’t even make sense to me most of the time, one of our brothers here at hostageland sent me a link for this little beastie:
Happy Sunday and welcome back to the Baroque. Let’s talk about oratorio: a large-scale musical work on a religious theme featuring choir and full orchestra. Any discussion of oratorio inevitably draws comparisons with opera, and that’s because they grew from some of the same impulse to heighten the expressive power of text by adding music. The most obvious difference is that opera is a stage play, complete with scenery, costumes and actor/singers. Oratorios are strictly sung, although sometimes there will be minimal costumes. Operas can be on any subject, often mythical or historical, but oratorios are on sacred subjects, with Protestant composers taking their texts from Bible stories, and Catholics doing both Bible stories and lives of the saints. Here’s Handel’s Joshua: