List of oratorios

First page of the first part of Bach's Christmas Oratorio (1734)

This is a chronological list of oratorios from the 16th century to the present. Unless otherwise indicated, all dates are those when the work was first performed. In some cases only the date of composition is known. In others, the oratorio has only been heard on a recording.

There is considerable overlap between the oratorio and the cantata, especially during the 19th century. The works listed below are those that have most often been referred to as oratorios.[1]

16th century

17th century

A recently discovered portrait, inscribed by the artist as representing Charpentier, but dating circa 1750,[2] about 40 years after his death.
  • Pietro della Valle – Oratorio della Purificatione (1640, the earliest documented use of the word "oratorio" to describe a musical composition)[3]
  • Cornelis Thymenszoon Padbrué – De tranen Petri ende Pauli (published 1647, only partial score survives)[4]
  • Giacomo Carissimi[5]
    • Jephte (before 16 June 1648)[6][7]
    • Baltazar (mid-17th century)
    • Diluvium universale (mid-17th century)
    • Dives malus (mid-17th century)
    • Ezechias (mid-17th century)
    • Jonas (mid-17th century)
    • Abramo e Isacco (mid-17th century)
    • Job (mid-17th century)
    • Judicium extremum (mid-17th century)
    • Judicium Salomonis (before 1669)
  • Marc-Antoine Charpentier
    • Judith sive liberata H.391 (mid 1670s)
    • Canticum pro pace H.392 (mid 1670s)
    • Canticum in nativitatem Domini H.393 (mid 1670s)
    • In honorem Caecilliae, Valeriani et Tiburij canticum H.394 (mid 1670s)
    • Pour la fête de l'Epiphanie H.395 (mid 1670s)
    • Historia Esther H.396 (mid 1670s)
    • Cacillia virgo et martyr Octobre vocibus H.397 (mid 1670s)
    • Pestis Mediolanensis H.398 (mid 1670s)
    • Prélude pour Horrenda pastis H.398 a (1679)
    • Filius prodigus H.399 (1680)
    • Prélude pour l'enfant prodigue H.399 a (1681–82)
    • L'enfant prodigue H/399 b (date unknown)
    • L'enfant prodigue H.399 c (date unknown)
    • Canticum in honorem Beatae Virginis Mariae... H.400 (1680)
    • Extremum Dei judicium H.401 (early 1680s)
    • Sacrificium Abrahae H.402
    • Symphonies ajustées au sacrifice d'Abraham H.402 a (date unknown)
    • Le sacrifice d'Abraham H.402 b (date unknown)
    • Mors Saülis et Jonathae H.403 (early 1680s)
    • Josue prélude H.404 a (1679)
    • Josue H.404 (early 1680s)
    • In resurrectione Domini Nostri Jesu Christi H.405 (1681–82)
    • In circumcisione Domini / Dialogus inter angelum et pastores H.406 (1682–83)
    • Dialogus inter esurientem, sitientem et Christum H.407 (1682–83)
    • Elévation H.408 (1683)
    • In obitum augustissimae nec non piissime Gallorum regina lamentum H.409 (1683)
    • Praelium Michaelis Archangeli factum in cocho cum dracone H.410 (1683)
    • Caedes sanctorum innocentium H.411 (1683–85)
    • Nuptiae sacrae H.412 (1683–85)
    • Caecilia virgo et martyr H.413 (1683–85)
    • In nativitatem Domini Nostri Jesu Christi canticum H.414 (1683–85)
    • Caecilia virgo et martyr H.415 (1686)
    • Prologue de la Ste Cécile après l'ouverture : Harmonia coelistis H.415 a (1686–87)
    • In nativitatem Domini canticum H.416 (late 1680s)
    • Dialogus inter Christum et homines H.417 (early 1690s)
    • In honorem Sancti Ludovici regis Galliae H.418 (early 1690s)
    • Pour Saint Augustin mourant H.419 (late 1690s)
    • Dialogus inter angelos et pastores Judae in nativitatem Domini H.420 (late 1690s)
    • In nativitatem Domini Nostri Jesu Christi canticum H.421 (1698–99)
    • Judicium Salomonis H.422 & H.422 a (1702)
    • Dialogus inter Magdalena et Jesu 2 vocibus Canto e Alto cum organo H.423 (date unknown)
    • Le reniement de St Pierre H.424 (date unknown)
    • Dialogus inter Christum et peccatores H.425 & H.425 a date unknown)
  • Louis-Nicolas Clérambault – L'histoire de la femme adultère ( 1699 ?) C.191
  • Sébastien de Brossard – Dialogus poenitentis animae cum Deo (1699 ?) SdB.55

18th century

First edition of Vivaldi's Juditha triumphans, the only one of his four oratorios to have survived
The final bars of the "Hallelujah" chorus, from Handel's Messiah, original manuscript

19th century

Worcester Cathedral, where Sullivan's The Prodigal Son premiered in 1869
Manuscript score of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius, signed by Elgar and the performers of the premiere in 1900

20th century

The Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, where John Adams's El Niño premiered in 2000

21st century

Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, where Jörg Widmann's Arche premiered in 2017

See also

References

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  4. ^ Grijp, Louis and Jan Bloemendal, Jan (2011). "Vondel's Theatre and Music" Archived 30 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Joost Van Den Vondel (1587–1679): Dutch Playwright in the Golden Age, pp. 150–151. Brill
  5. ^ Howard E. Smither. A History of the Oratorio, Vol. 1 (1977)
  6. ^ Andrew V. Jones, "Carissimi, Giacomo [Jacomo]", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001).
  7. ^ Randel, Don M. (1996). "Carissimi, Giacomo", The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, p. 136. Harvard University Press
  8. ^ Zöllner, Eva. 'Handel and English oratorio Archived 28 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine' in The Cambridge History of Eighteenth Century Music (2011)
  9. ^ Bartlett, Ian. 'Boyce and the Early English Oratorio Archived 28 October 2021 at the Wayback Machine'. in The Musical Times, Vol. 120, No. 1634 (April 1979), pp. 293–297
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  26. ^ Recorded (in Welsh) on Rubicon RCD1100 (2023)
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  58. ^ https://www.patrickhawes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Screenshot-2024-10-07-at-15.02.43.png