oratorio

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Harry Bicket and the English Concert presented the composer’s highly theatrical but little-known 1745 oratorio in an uneven but frequently arresting performance.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Despite dealing with an oratorio, “The Choral” is more of a medley, briefly touching on one theme after another, but never convincingly.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

The latter was an example of how the overuse of this overwrought oratorio made it perfect fodder for parody, and the humor of juicing something comedic with its uber-seriousness.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 12, 2025

This wasn’t the usual, quaintly sleepy Christmas routine, but a seething, electrically direct and dramatic enactment of an oratorio that both describes and calls for transformation: “And we shall be changed,” its crucial line promises.

From New York Times • Dec. 14, 2023

In 1889, the enormous popularity in Britain of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah caused George Bernard Shaw to lampoon its Sunday-school sentimentalities and its Music-school ornamentalities’.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall