" It was to be
played in appropriate costumes, and certain choruses were to be
accompanied, in a reverent and sedate manner, by solemn dances. Some of
the characters were Time, Pleasure, the World, Human Life, the Body,
etc.
As the various forms of music, already named as common to the opera and
oratorio, developed in the former, so in proportion they expanded and
became freer in the latter; those portions which had been mainly founded
upon plain song became more expressive and dramatic, and the melody
assumed a flowing and cantabile character. But whereas you would imagine
that a closer connection between the secular and sacred would be the
result of this change, nevertheless, the composer's conviction that the
music must strive to be of adequate importance to the sacred words and
subjects caused a line to be drawn, ever growing more and more marked,
as time and growth in grace and knowledge went on, between the secular
and sacred musical drama.
In the seventeenth century we find Carissimi greatly advancing oratorio,
and composing really noble music. You may remember a revival of his
"Jephtha," by Mr. Henry Leslie, a few years back. Scarlatti, Stradella,
and others also contributed to this period.
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