[Continued listening extract audio not available in printed QP] Music (continued) A sacred work based on a biblical story includes arias, choruses and a nar...
Question 1 Report
[Continued listening extract audio not available in printed QP]
Music (continued)
A sacred work based on a biblical story includes arias, choruses and a narrator, performed without staging.
(a) What type of vocal composition. [1]
(b) Give the term for the narrator's role. [1]
[Total: 2 marks]
Answer Details
(a) The composition described - a sacred work based on a biblical story, featuring arias, choruses and a narrator, performed without staging - is an oratorio. [1]
An oratorio shares many musical features with opera (soloists, chorus, orchestra, recitatives and arias) but is performed in concert form without costumes, scenery or acting. The subject matter is typically drawn from scripture or religious themes. Famous examples include Handel's Messiah and Haydn's The Creation.
(b) The narrator's role in an oratorio is called the Evangelist (or simply the narrator). [1]
The Evangelist links the dramatic scenes by recounting the biblical story in recitative, providing context and continuity. This role is especially prominent in Passion settings (such as Bach's St Matthew Passion), where the Evangelist narrates events from the Gospels while soloists take the roles of individual characters.
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