The Oratorio
What is an Oratorio? A choral masterpiece, a religious drama, or is it simply an opera in disguise? During this new 3-term course we will explore the soundscape of this music form. Each term will focus on ten different oratorios, not in strictly chronological order but grouping them by themes: the Michaelmas Term will centre on Old Testament Oratorios, the Spring Term on Christian Oratorios, and the Summer Term on Secular Oratorios. In this vast repertoire we will listen to music from the baroque to the 21st century, from Carissimi to Walton, Handel and Mendelssohn to John Adams and Kaija Saariaho.
