Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/683

 ORANIENBAUM ORATORIO 669 mild and affectionate, and the deportment grave and often melancholy; the intelligence and powers of imitation are considerable, and they get to be fond of the varied food of man, and especially his drinks, as ardent spirits and coffee. The Sumatran orang has been described as a distinct species, as P. Abelii or Hcolor (Geoffr.) ; it is of large size and of a reddish brown color. A smaller and more anthropoid species in Bor- neo has been named P. morio by Owen ; it is about 4 ft. high, and 6 ft. between the ends of the outstretched arms; the ridges of the skull are rudimentary, passing from the exter- nal angle of the frontal bone, slightly converg- ing but not meeting, and behind the coronal suture soon subsiding to the level of the skull ; the canines are smaller, and are related to dif- ferences in the cranium ; it may be, according to Owen, a now permanent, though dwarfed, variety of P. satyrus. ORANIENBAUM, a town of Russia, on the gulf of Finland, in the government and 20 m. W. of the city of St. Petersburg, opposite Cronstadt. It is celebrated for its picturesque situation, and for an imperial palace, with a magnificent park, built by Prince Menshikoff, a favorite of Peter the Great, which subsequently became the property of the crown and the favorite res- idence of Peter III. The palace consists of three buildings, connected by colonnades and surrounded in every direction by gardens and orangeries (Oranienbdume), whence the name of the town. A canal connects the pleasure grounds directly with the gulf of Finland. In a neighboring grove, in the utmost seclusion, is a little chateau known as the Solitude. The road from Oranienbaum to St. Petersburg is lined almost continuously with parks and vil- las, and passes the imperial summer palaces Strielna and Peterhof. OR ATORIAXS. I. A religious society founded by St. Philip Neri. (See NERI, FILIPPO DE'.) In 1551 Neri associated with himself several young priests, and gradually matured the plan of the " Congregation of the Oratory." The congregation was formally established in 1564, confirmed in 1575 by Pope Gregory XIII., and again by Paul V. in 1612. During the life- time of St. Philip the congregation extended through all parts of Italy, new houses being established at Florence, Naples, Lucca, Padua, and many other places. Neri remained the superior of the congregation till 1593, when he resigned, and was succeeded by Baronius. The congregation was chiefly confined to Italy till 1848, when, at the suggestion of Bishop (afterward Cardinal) Wiseman, two houses of the Oratory were established in England by John Henry Newman, one in London, and the other at Edgbaston near Birmingham. II* An order founded in France in 1611 by the abb6 (afterward Cardinal) B6rulle, and confirmed by a bull of Paul V., May 10, 1613, under the name of " Priests of the Oratory of Jesus." Their aim was the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline among the clergy. They spread rap- idly in France and elsewhere, and during the lifetime of their founder houses were estab- lished at Madrid, Rome, and Constantinople, and in Savoy and the Netherlands. The con- gregation soon became distinguished for the great number of eminent scholars among its members. They were deeply involved in the Jansenist controversy, and at the election of several superiors general they were divided into a Jansenist and an anti-Jansenist party. After the outbreak of the French revolution a considerable number of Oratorians joined the constitutional church. The congregation itself, with all other religious associations, was dis- solved. On Aug. 16, 1852, six French priests, under the guidance of the abbe Petetot, under- took to restore the French Oratory. In 1864 the new congregation, under the title of the " Oratory of Christ our Lord and of Mary Im- maculate," was approved by the pope. It re- ceived its chief illustration from Fathers Gra- try and Perraud, and is known as the Oratory of the Immaculate Conception. ORATORIO (Lat. oratorium, a small chapel), a sacred musical composition, consisting of airs, recitatives, duets, trios, choruses, &c., with full orchestral accompaniment. The subject is generally taken from Scripture, and the text, which is seldom dramatic in form, is sung and recited without action or any of the adjuncts of theatrical representation. The oratorio is a modified form of the mystery or religious tragedy of the middle ages, adapted to the ser- vices of the church. Its origin has general- ly been ascribed to St. Philip Neri, who in 1564 founded the congregation of the Oratory in Rome, one of the objects of which was to deter young people from profane amuse- ments by rendering religious services attrac- tive. They began by the introduction of can- ticles and spiritual songs and choruses ; "and afterward Scripture songs and incidents were formed into dramatic poems, set to music by the best composers, and sung with instru- mental accompaniment before and after the sermon. In the present signification of the term, however, oratorios w^ere not produced until about the middle of the 17th century. They speedily became popular in Italy, where they were regularly performed in churches du- ring the carnival, and gradually became a rec- ognized form of musical composition in many parts of Europe. In Germany they have been cultivated by eminent composers from Bach to Mendelssohn; and in England for a century and a half they have proved perhaps the most popular species of music extant. In the latter country all the great works of Handel, the most eminent composer of oratorios, inclu- ding "Samson," "Israel in Egypt," "Saul," "Jephthah's Daughter," and the "Messiah," were originally produced. In some cities of the United States the taste for this kind of music has been fostered by societies of long standing. In Italy oratorios are performed exclusively in churches.