HISTORIA DI JEPHTE: AN ORATORIO LATINO BY CARISSIMI
HISTORIA DI JEPHTE: AN ORATORIO LATINO BY CARISSIMI
Oratorios are similar to operas but based off of a religious topic.1 One example of an oratorio is Historia di Jephte. Historia di Jephte is an oratorio latino by Roman composer Giacomo Carissimi during the 17th century.2 Carissimi was successful creating the greatest possible sense of drama with out action.3
ORATORIO IN THE 17TH CENTURY
An oratorio is basically an opera with a sacred topic. Oratorios can also be thought of as spiritual concerts. The matters were religious but surprisingly were not performed in church services. Essential to opera recitatives, ariosos and arias, or set pieces, are also important to oratorios.4 Recitatives were still speech like, ariosos were speech like yet more metrical, and arias were still sung lyrically. Monody was standard in recitatives and arias for both genres (Dixon, Carissimi, 12). Even though these parts were important, oratorios were less operatic in many ways (Arnold, “The first flowering,” 1324). For one they included a chorus that narrated and held a bigger role in the story line then the soloists.5 The chorus filled out the text by emphasizing important parts of the story (Burkholder, HWM:8, 339). They were composed of metrical chords and had very little polyphony.6 By the eighteenth century composers left out the “testo”, a narrator, and the chorus was less important.7 Secondly, oratorios were rarely staged and action was described in music rather than acted out (Burkholder, HWM:8, 339). It was also performed with out scenery, props, costumes or action.8 The venue drapery and simple ornamentation were the closest things to scenery they had (Smither, “Oratorio”, 91). Independent instrumental parts were rare but instrumental ensembles were not (Dixon, Carissimi, 48). Similarly to opera they still used a libretto, either in Latin or Italian, written in verse (Burkholder, HWM:8, 339). Normally librettos had two sections and if time allowed, there was a
Oratorios are similar to operas but based off of a religious topic.1 One example of an oratorio is Historia di Jephte. Historia di Jephte is an oratorio latino by Roman composer Giacomo Carissimi during the 17th century.2 Carissimi was successful creating the greatest possible sense of drama with out action.3
ORATORIO IN THE 17TH CENTURY
An oratorio is basically an opera with a sacred topic. Oratorios can also be thought of as spiritual concerts. The matters were religious but surprisingly were not performed in church services. Essential to opera recitatives, ariosos and arias, or set pieces, are also important to oratorios.4 Recitatives were still speech like, ariosos were speech like yet more metrical, and arias were still sung lyrically. Monody was standard in recitatives and arias for both genres (Dixon, Carissimi, 12). Even though these parts were important, oratorios were less operatic in many ways (Arnold, “The first flowering,” 1324). For one they included a chorus that narrated and held a bigger role in the story line then the soloists.5 The chorus filled out the text by emphasizing important parts of the story (Burkholder, HWM:8, 339). They were composed of metrical chords and had very little polyphony.6 By the eighteenth century composers left out the “testo”, a narrator, and the chorus was less important.7 Secondly, oratorios were rarely staged and action was described in music rather than acted out (Burkholder, HWM:8, 339). It was also performed with out scenery, props, costumes or action.8 The venue drapery and simple ornamentation were the closest things to scenery they had (Smither, “Oratorio”, 91). Independent instrumental parts were rare but instrumental ensembles were not (Dixon, Carissimi, 48). Similarly to opera they still used a libretto, either in Latin or Italian, written in verse (Burkholder, HWM:8, 339). Normally librettos had two sections and if time allowed, there was a