oratorio

noun

or·​a·​to·​rio ˌȯr-ə-ˈtȯr-ē-ˌō 

ˌär-

plural oratorios

: a lengthy choral work usually of a religious nature consisting chiefly of recitatives, arias, and choruses without action or scenery

Examples of oratorio in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The pandemic interrupted the development of the oratorio, but its first iteration was performed in San Francisco and on Angel Island in 2021. —Aimée Ts'ao, Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2025

In 2017, with a grant from the Hewlett Foundation, the Del Sol String Quartet commissioned Huang to write an oratorio about Angel Island’s history based on the poems. —Aimée Ts'ao, Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2025

Across the aisle from me on a plane is a man studying a score (Schumann’s oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri). —Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 18 Apr. 2025

An oratorio is essentially an unstaged opera, a story told in music. —Jan Swafford, The Atlantic, 29 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Italian, from the Oratorio di San Filippo Neri (Oratory of St. Philip Neri) in Rome

First Known Use

1724, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

oratorio

noun

or·​a·​to·​rio ˌȯr-ə-ˈtōr-ē-ˌō 

ˌär-,

-ˈtȯr-

plural oratorios

: a vocal and orchestral work usually dramatizing a religious subject without action or scenery