Oratorio is a large-scale sacred composition for soloists, choir, and orchestra — opera's spiritual cousin, performed without staging.
The oratorio originated in late 16th-century Rome at the Oratory of San Filippo Neri, where biblical stories were dramatised in music for devotional purposes. Giacomo Carissimi developed the form in the 17th century, and it crossed to Germany through Heinrich Schütz. The supreme oratorio composer in English was George Frideric Handel, whose 'Messiah' (1741), 'Israel in Egypt' (1739), and 'Solomon' (1748) defined the genre's dramatic power. Bach's 'St Matthew Passion' (1727) and 'St John Passion' (1724), though strictly speaking Passion settings rather than oratorios, share the genre's combination of solo arias, recitatives, choral commentary, and orchestral framing. Haydn's 'The Creation' (1798) and Mendelssohn's 'Elijah' (1846) extended the tradition into the 19th century. The oratorio is opera without sets — the staging happens entirely in the listener's mind.