From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishoratorioor‧a‧to‧ri‧o /ˌɒrəˈtɔːriəʊ $ ˌɔːrəˈtɔːrioʊ, ˌɑː-/ noun (plural oratorios) [countable] APMa long piece of music in which a large group of people sing
Examples from the Corpus
oratorio• It swelled, diminished, and swelled again like an oratorio.• Her repertoire includes lieder and oratorios, though she has been most active as an opera singer.• There were also two libretti for oratorios probably dating from 1765, as well as other miscellaneous poems.• The radio had Christmas music which often she did not like, huge oratorios and quasi-religious peculiar plays.• In the days of Phrynichos' Fall of Miletos, as was observed, tragedy was a kind of oratorio with costume.Origin oratorio (1600-1700) Italian from the Oratorio di San Filippo Neri, church in Rome where such music was first performed 