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41-650: Born in Berlin, Werner studied at the Berliner Akademie für Kirchen- und Schulmusik, the University in Berlin and at the Preußische Akademie der Künste . His teachers were Wolfgang Reimann, Arthur Egidi, Fritz Heitmann , Richard Münnich , Carl Stumpf and Georg Schumann (composition, organ), Kurt Schubert (piano), Max Seiffert and Johannes Wolf (history of music), Richard Hagel (conducting). In 1935 he became organist at

82-536: A competition for a monument in honour of Frederick the Great . Friedrich Gilly designed a monumental temple in the style of revolutionary architecture ( Revolutionsarchitektur ) to be erected on Leipziger Platz in Berlin. Today, the design is part of the collection of the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin . Name changes: Longtime director and sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow served from 1815 to 1850. In 1833

123-606: A revitalisation of church music in Germany in the 20th century, as also Rudolf Mauersberger , Günther Ramin and Johann Nepomuk David . Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts ( German : Preußische Akademie der Künste ) was a state arts academy first established in Berlin , Brandenburg , in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia , and later king in Prussia . After

164-601: Is also a four-part chorus to represent any crowds in the drama. The music is often contrapuntal and madrigal-like . Philip Neri 's Congregazione dell'Oratorio featured the singing of spiritual laude . These became more and more popular and were eventually performed in specially built oratories (prayer halls) by professional musicians. Again, these were chiefly based on dramatic and narrative elements. Sacred opera provided another impetus for dialogues, and they greatly expanded in length (although never really beyond 60 minutes long). Cavalieri's Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo

205-542: Is also credited with writing the first English language oratorio, Esther . Handel's imitators included the Italian Lidarti who was employed by the Amsterdam Jewish community to compose a Hebrew version of Esther . Joseph Haydn 's The Creation (1798) and The Seasons (1801) have remained the most widely known oratorios from the period of classicism. While the first of these Händel inspired works draws from

246-433: Is an example of one of these works, but technically it is not an oratorio because it features acting and dancing. It does, however contain music in the monodic style. The first oratorio to be called by that name is Pietro della Valle 's Oratorio della Purificazione , but due to its brevity (only 12 minutes long) and the fact that its other name was "dialogue", we can see that there was much ambiguity in these names. During

287-474: Is compelling. The drama moves inexorably forward and the entire story is most movingly related." In 1998 the choir celebrated his 100th birthday with a performance of his motets Die Botschaft on Bible words for mixed choir a cappella with soprano, baritone and oboe soloists in the Nikolaikirche Heilbronn, conducted by Michael Böttcher. His compositions of more than 50 opus-numbers have included

328-558: Is generally qualified as ' secular oratorio': a piece of terminology that would, in some historical contexts, have been regarded as oxymoronic , or at least paradoxical, and viewed with a degree of scare-quoted skepticism. Despite this enduring and implicit context, oratorio on secular subjects has been written from the genre's origins . The word oratorio comes from the Latin verb ōrō (present infinitive ōrāre ), meaning to orate or speak publicly , to pray, or to beg or plead, related to

369-567: Is regarded as the first masterpiece of the genre (like most other Latin oratorios of the period, it is in one section only), and in France Carissimi's pupil Marc-Antoine Charpentier (34 works H.391 - H.425). Lasting about 30–60 minutes, oratori volgari were performed in two sections, separated by a sermon ; their music resembles that of contemporary operas and chamber cantatas . In the late baroque period oratorios increasingly became "sacred opera". In Rome and Naples Alessandro Scarlatti

410-1063: The Accademia dei Lincei in Rome and the Académies Royales in Paris, the Prussian Academy of Art was the oldest institution of its kind in Europe, with a similar mission to other royal academies of that time, such as the Real Academia Española in Madrid, the Royal Society in London, or the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm. The academy had a decisive influence on art and its development in

451-668: The Attic Greek noun ἀρά ( ará , “prayer”). (Hence the disambiguation entry for 'oratory' , including oratory (worship) .) The musical composition was "named from the kind of musical services held in the church of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Rome ( Congregazione dell'Oratorio ) in the latter half of the 16th cent." The word is only attested in English from 1727, with the equivalent 'oratory' in prior use, from 1640. Although medieval plays such as

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492-697: The Ludus Danielis and Renaissance dialogue motets such as those of the Oltremontani had characteristics of an oratorio, the first oratorio is usually seen as Emilio de Cavalieri 's Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo (1600). Monteverdi composed Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (1624) which can be considered as the first secular oratorio. The origins of the oratorio can be found in sacred dialogues in Italy. These were settings of Biblical, Latin texts and musically were quite similar to motets . There

533-695: The Second World War . Postwar oratorios include Dmitri Shostakovich 's Song of the Forests (1949), Sergei Prokofiev 's On Guard for Peace (1950), Vadim Salmanov 's Twelve (1957), Alfred Schnittke 's Nagasaki (1958), Bohuslav Martinů 's The Epic of Gilgamesh (1958), Krzysztof Penderecki 's St. Luke Passion (1966), Hans Werner Henze 's Das Floß der Medusa (1968), René Clemencic 's Kabbala (1992), and Osvaldo Golijov 's La Pasión según San Marcos (2000). Mauricio Kagel composed Sankt-Bach-Passion , an oratorio about Bach's life, for

574-480: The cantata Trauermusik (1935), Apfelkantate (1939), Symphonie in d (1954), Suite Concertante (1969), Psalmen-Triptychon (1972), a collection of motets Die Botschaft (1973), and concertos for trumpet, horn, piano and violin. His cantata Jesus Christus herrscht als König for choir, brass and timpani was published as well as a piano concerto, Konzertante Musik für Flöte, Oboe und Horn , Symphonische Musik für Streichorchester (music for string orchestra), and

615-472: The librettos of their oratorios as they did for their operas. Strong emphasis was soon placed on arias while the use of the choir diminished. Female singers became regularly employed, and replaced the male narrator with the use of recitatives . By the mid-17th century, two types had developed: The most significant composers of oratorio latino were in Italy Giacomo Carissimi , whose Jephte

656-458: The "ladies class" under Karl Gussow . Oskar Frenzel studied there between 1884 and 1889 under Paul Friedrich Meyerheim and Eugen Bracht . He was from 1904 until his death a member of the Academy. Painter Friedrich Wachenhusen studied there in 1889 under Eugen Bracht . Name changes: In 1926 the academy added a Dichtkunst (Fine Poetry) division, a Dichtung (Poetry) division in 1932, and

697-637: The Bethlehem Church in Potsdam-Babelsberg and a school teacher. In 1936 he became organist and cantor at St. Nicholas' Church in Potsdam , promoted to Kirchenmusikdirektor (director of church music) in 1938. In 1939 he became music director at Radio Paris . After World War II he was organist and cantor at St. Kilian's Church in Heilbronn from 1946 until 1964. In 1966 he left his collection of music to

738-540: The Bible); the text of an oratorio often deals with sacred subjects, making it appropriate for performance in the church , which remains an important performance context for the genre. Catholic composers looked to the lives of saints and stories from the Bible . Protestant composers often looked to Biblical topics, but sometimes looked to the lives of notable religious figures, such as Carl Loewe's "Jan Hus" , an oratorio about

779-663: The German Academy of Poetry from the beginning of June 1933. From 1930 until his parting into exile in 1933, novelist Heinrich Mann was its president. Painter and sculptor Paul Wallat studied there from 1902 to 1909 under Otto Brausewetter  [ de ] (de) (1835–1904) and Carl Saltzmann . On 29 December 1906 he received the award of the Ginsberg Foundation of the Berlin Academy. In 1920, Käthe Kollwitz became

820-650: The German-speaking world throughout its existence. For an extended period of time it was also the German artists' society and training organisation, whilst the Academy's Senate became Prussia's arts council as early as 1699. It dropped 'Prussian' from its name in 1945 and was finally disbanded in 1955 after the 1954 foundation of two separate academies of art for East Berlin and West Berlin in 1954. Those two separate academies merged in 1993 to form Berlin's present-day Academy of Arts . Most artists were associated with

861-813: The Other Mary . Other religions represented include Ilaiyaraaja 's Thiruvasakam (based on the texts of Hindu hymns to Shiva ). Secular oratorios composed in the 21st century include Nathan Currier 's Gaian Variations (based on the Gaia hypothesis ), Richard Einhorn 's The Origin (based on the writings of Charles Darwin ), Jonathan Mills ' Sandakan Threnody (based on the Sandakan Death Marches ), Neil Hannon 's To Our Fathers in Distress , and David Lang 's The Little Match Girl Passion (2008). The oratorio Laudato si' , composed in 2016 by Peter Reulein on

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902-510: The Passions of J. S. Bach , oratorio-passions such as Der Tod Jesu set by Telemann and Carl Heinrich Graun . After Telemann came the galante oratorio style of C. P. E. Bach . The Georgian era saw a German-born monarch and German-born composer define the English oratorio. George Frideric Handel , most famous today for his Messiah (1741), also wrote other oratorios based on themes from Greek and Roman mythology and Biblical topics. He

943-496: The academy added a fine arts division, and a music division in 1835. Emil Fuchs studied at the Academy under Fritz Schaper and Anton von Werner , shortly before 1891. Otto Geyer studied there from 1859 to 1864. Sculptor Wilhelm Neumann-Torborg studied at the academy from 1878 until 1885, under Otto Knille and Fritz Schaper . In 1885, he won the Academy's Rome Scholarship for his thesis, "The Judgment of Paris". Anna Gerresheim studied there from 1876 for four years in

984-418: The academy as members. Membership was an honorary distinction extended to prominent domestic Prussian artists (after unification, German artists) and selected foreign figures as well. A 'deliberative' body of senators was chosen from the membership – some elected, and some automatically included due to other rank. The academy was not a school, although it had associations with educational institutions, notably

1025-477: The cantata Von der Eitelkeit der Welt (Of the vanity of the world). In 1964 he wrote as his op. 44 an oratorio for Pentecost Veni, sancte spiritus (Come, Holy Spirit) on the sequence Veni sancte spiritus . The Oratorium nach Worten der Heiligen Schrift (oratorio after Bible words) for mixed choir, two solo voices and orchestra was first performed on 16 May 1971. It was published by the Carus-Verlag under

1066-466: The early reformer, Jan Hus . Oratorios became extremely popular in early 17th-century Italy partly because of the success of opera and the Catholic Church's prohibition of spectacles during Lent . Oratorios became the main choice of music during that annual period for opera audiences. Conventionally, oratorio implies the sincere religious treatment of sacred subjects, such that non-sacred oratorio

1107-477: The first in the history of the genre to be based on the life of Buddha . Several late 20th and early 21st-century oratorios have since been based on Buddha's life or have incorporated Buddhist texts. These include Somei Satoh 's 1987 Stabat Mater , Dinesh Subasinghe 's 2010 Karuna Nadee , and Jonathan Harvey 's 2011 Weltethos . The 21st century also saw a continuation of Christianity-based oratorios with John Adams 's El Niño and The Gospel According to

1148-427: The first woman elected to the Prussian Academy, but with the coming to power of Adolf Hitler in 1933 she was expelled because of her beliefs and her art. Name changes: Oratorio An oratorio ( Italian pronunciation: [oraˈtɔːrjo] ) is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir , soloists and orchestra or other ensemble . Like most operas , an oratorio includes

1189-528: The other thing that listening to all these performances has reinforced for me is how endlessly inventive, how eloquent and how moving is the music of Bach. I suspect that Fritz Werner would regard that as the best possible testament to his work." The same reviewer stated about a recording of the St Matthew Passion with Helmut Krebs as the Evangelist : "Werner's pacing of the whole work and his vision of it

1230-702: The recordings have included the Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra , the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn and the Südwestfunk Orchester . Werner's Bach recordings were compared to those of his contemporary Karl Richter . A reviewer wrote about his cantata recordings: "... this wise, discerning and humane Bach conductor has much to teach us, even (perhaps especially) in an age when we are so used to performances of Bach in period style and by small or smallish forces. But

1271-467: The religious theme of creation, the second is more secular, containing songs about industry, hunting and wine. Britain continued to look to Germany for its composers of oratorio. The Birmingham Festival commissioned various oratorios including Felix Mendelssohn 's Elijah in 1846, later performed in German as Elias . German composer Georg Vierling is noted for modernizing the secular oratorio form. John Stainer 's The Crucifixion (1887) became

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1312-486: The second half of the 17th century, there were trends toward the performance of the religious oratorio also outside church halls in courts and public theaters . The theme of an oratorio is meant to be weighty. It could include such topics as Creation , the life of Jesus , or the career of a classical hero or Biblical prophet . Other changes eventually took place as well, possibly because most composers of oratorios were also popular composers of operas. They began to publish

1353-446: The state school that evolved into the present-day Berlin University of the Arts . The academy was founded to include painters, sculptors, and architects as members, which reflected the classical unity of the arts ideal. The scope was expanded in 1704 to include "Mechanical Sciences". The academy's first director (president) was Swiss painter Joseph Werner . In 1796, the Academy announced

1394-926: The stereotypical battlehorse of massed amateur choral societies. Edward Elgar tried to revive the genre around the turn of century with the composition of The Light of Life (Lux Christi) , The Dream of Gerontius , The Apostles and The Kingdom . Oratorio returned haltingly to public attention with Igor Stravinsky 's Oedipus Rex in Paris (1927), William Walton 's Belshazzar's Feast in Leeds (1931), Paul Hindemith 's Das Unaufhörliche in Berlin (1931), Arthur Honegger 's Le Roi David and Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher in Basel (1938), and Franz Schmidt 's The Book with Seven Seals ( Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln ) in Vienna (1938). Michael Tippett 's oratorio A Child of Our Time (first performance, 1944) engages with events surrounding

1435-447: The tercentenary of his birth in 1985. Oratorios by popular musicians include Léo Ferré 's La Chanson du mal-aimé (1954 and 1972), based on Guillaume Apollinaire 's poem of the same name, Paul McCartney 's Liverpool Oratorio (1991), and Mikis Theodorakis 's Canto General and Axion Esti , based on poems of Pablo Neruda and Odusseas Elytis . When Dudley Buck composed his oratorio The Light of Asia in 1886, it became

1476-625: The title Veni Sancte Spiritus . The music for string orchestra was premiered by the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn on 31 January 1968. His Suite Concertante for high trumpet, string orchestra and percussion op. 48 was recorded right after its premiere on 23 September 1971 with Maurice André and the same chamber orchestra. His Trumpet and Organ Duo op. 53 was recorded several times, for example with Michael Feldner and Petra Morath-Pusinelli or with Malte Burba and Johannes von Erdmann. Fritz Werner contributed to

1517-818: The town of Heilbronn. Fritz Werner founded the Heinrich-Schütz-Chor Heilbronn in 1947 and conducted it until 1973. First they concentrated on the music of Heinrich Schütz and made it known in Heilbronn and the region. Later they recorded numerous works of Johann Sebastian Bach , his passions, oratorios, motets and especially more than 50 of his cantatas . Vocal soloists have included Agnes Giebel , Edith Selig , Claudia Hellmann , Barbara Scherler , Hertha Töpper , Theo Altmeyer , Kurt Huber , Helmut Krebs , Jakob Stämpfli , Barry McDaniel , Bruce Abel and Franz Kelch , instrumental soloists Maurice André (trumpet), Hermann Baumann (horn), Marie-Claire Alain (organ) and György Terebesi (violin). Orchestras for

1558-427: The use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters (e.g. soloists), and arias . However, opera is musical theatre , and typically involves significant theatrical spectacle , including sets , props , and costuming , as well as staged interactions between characters. In oratorio, there is generally minimal staging , with the chorus often assuming a more central dramatic role, and

1599-412: The work is typically presented as a concert piece – though oratorios are sometimes staged as operas, and operas are not infrequently presented in concert form . A particularly important difference between opera and oratorio is in the typical subject matter of the text. An opera libretto may deal with any conceivable dramatic subject (e.g. history , mythology , Richard Nixon , Anna Nicole Smith and

1640-418: Was a strong narrative, dramatic emphasis and there were conversational exchanges between characters in the work. Giovanni Francesco Anerio 's Teatro harmonico spirituale (1619) is a set of 14 dialogues, the longest of which is 20 minutes long and covers the conversion of St. Paul and is for four soloists: Historicus (narrator), tenor ; St. Paul , tenor; Voice from Heaven, bass ; and Ananias , tenor. There

1681-441: Was the most noted composer. In Vienna the court poet Metastasio produced annually a series of oratorios for the court which were set by Caldara , Hasse and others. Metastasio's best known oratorio libretto La passione di Gesù Cristo was set by at least 35 composers from 1730 to 1790. In Germany the middle baroque oratorios moved from the early-baroque Historia style Christmas and Resurrection settings of Heinrich Schütz , to

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