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• n  a musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a religious text

• When Pablo Casals set to work on an oratorio titled El Presebre (The Manger) in 1943, he intended it to be performed on the occasion of Franco's downfall.
• It took Messiaen nearly four years to compose the oratorio, which requires 109 players, seven instrumental soloists and a 105-voice choir.
• The oratorio is based on the Biblical story of Jacob's dream of a wondrous ladder on which angels moved between heaven and earth.

• cantata

News & Articles

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• After 27 years, new leadership at Oratorio Chorale
  The Times Record BRUNSWICK A staple of classical music in the Midcoast has been the Oratorio Chorale, founded in 1974 by Bowdoin College alumnus C. Russell Crosby, as part of an extension of the Bowdoin College Chorus and the old Brunswick Choral Society. read more
  July 20, 2013 - The Times Record

Quotes

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• Eric Idle in Canada.com
  I love the conceit of doing this as an oratorio based on the Messiah,Idle says from his home in Los Angeles. "I think it's really a smart, funny way of adapting this material."
• Kate Robbins in Telegraph.co.uk
  It is based on Paul's classical work The Liverpool -Oratorio,explained Kate Robbins, Sir Paul's cousin, who is working on the adaptation. "Paul will approve every note as musical director."
• Michael Palin in Montreal Gazette
  I just say to people, 'it's an oratorio,' and that shuts most of them up because they don't know what an oratorio is,says Palin, describing his part in the production. "It sounds rather grand."