Oratorio
The first important composer of oratorios was George Frideric Handel.  Handel, who was born in Germany, had become English.  Handel had written a lot of operas, but in 1732 he started to write oratorios instead and quite suddenly people became very interested in oratorios.  He used the same sort of music as in his operas: the work would start with an overture (an introduction on the orchestra) and then there would be recitative (the bits that told the story), arias (songs for the solo singers) and choruses for the choir.  The chorus was very important in oratorios: they got more to sing than in most operas.  This meant that choral societies became very popular, and this tradition spread from England (where Handel lived) to other countries in Europe.  Handel’s most famous oratorio is Messiah. Unlike most of his other oratorios, the story is not from the Old Testament.   It tells the story of the birth, life and death of Jesus.  In Britain Handel’s Messiah is traditionally performed around Christmas.  Other oratorios by Handel include: Deborah, Saul, Samson, Judas Maccabaeus and Solomon.  Handel composed all these oratorios to English texts.