Neri's oratory. Dramatized versions of biblical stories. Palestrina
and harmonies of celestial Jerusalem. Religious dramas of Roswitha.
Laura Guidiccioni's first oratorio text. Music by Cavalieri. At
Santa Maria della Vallicella. Orchestra behind the scene.
Description. Carissimi, "father of oratorio and cantata."
Alessandro Scarlatti. Another Alessandro. Dr. Parry's opinion. "San
Giovanni Battista" and famous air. Tradition about Stradella. What
recent writers say. Handel and the "Messiah." Bach and the "Passion
Music." "The Creation" and Haydn. Beethoven's "Mount of Olives."
Mendelssohn, in "St. Paul" and "Elijah." Oratorios of Liszt and
Gounod. Next step in the evolution.