oratorio means A musical composition, often based on a religious theme; similar to opera but with no costume, scenery or acting. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
oratorio is pronounced /ɔɹə'to:ɹeoʋ/.
Why “oratorio” is a great word
ORATORIO — [Noun] A large-scale musical composition for voices and orchestra, typically on a sacred or dramatic narrative text, performed without costume, scenery, or acting. From Italian oratorio (“oratorical”), from Latin ōrātōrius (“oratorical, of an orator”), named for the musical services held at the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rome in the late 16th century; first attested in English in the 1640s in the native form ‘oratory’. Unlike opera, a fully-staged drama of spectacle, or cantata, a shorter and often less narrative choral work, the oratorio is a concert piece of epic, inward theatre. It is the sonic architecture of a cathedral built in air, the collective breath of a chorus narrating a plague of darkness, and the lone voice of a soprano scaling a scaffold of notes to reach a divine question—a testament to the belief that the greatest dramas are those performed behind the eyes.
noun
- A musical composition, often based on a religious theme; similar to opera but with no costume, scenery or acting.