Musicology Annotation << Back The Birth of the German Oratorio Alexandra N. Khanova This article deals with the prehistory and the conditions of the occurrence of the German oratorio. The article reveals as well the features of genre and its specific character of interpretation in Germany in the fi rst half the 18th century. Until now, the German oratorio branch wasn’t the subject of a special study of the Russian musicology. The 18th century German oratorio was deeply rooted into the Protestant musical tradition and has been inherited much from the Kirchenmusik genres of the 17th century. The birth of the German oratorio at the turn of the century was caused by a number of circumstances. The reform of the church musical and poetic tradition that was began by E. Neumeister, coincided with the creative experiments of young poets and musicians from Hamburg. The confrontation of the secular and ecclesiastical musical traditions, which lasted for decades in Hamburg, gave a special strain fi eld where, like a spark, a new genre was appeared and quickly spread across Germany. Although the thoughts about the Italian oratorio were the impulse for the “invention” of the German oratorio it was hardly recalled later. In Germany from the one hand Passion and church cantatas were considered to be the most close to oratorio and from the other – an opera. Even the understanding of the appellation of genre was peculiar in Germany: it wasn’t heard as “from the Oratorio” or “prayful”, but “oratorical” or “rhetorical”. Keywords: german Oratorio, cantata, Kirchenmusik, german church music, Hamburg, Hunold, Neumeister, Brockes, Matthesohn, Telemann. Contacts: E-mail: a-hanova@list.ru Pp. 25-35.