The Evolution of Sacred Soli from Oratorios: Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century

The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate briefly the evolution of musieal styles and characteristics found in sacred soli from oratorios over the course of the Baroque Period to the Twentieth Century. The author chose eight representative arias for examination in this project, with two arias being chosen for each of four periods, the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century, selected because of the prominence of both the composer and the aria in the context of choral history. The thesis is divided into four basic sections, the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Twentieth Century. The author will discuss historical influences from each period as background information for more specific examination of the representative pieces. Each aria will be discussed with regards to specific qualities of the larger work from which it is taken, its function within this work, musical styles and characteristics found within the aria inherent to the period, and any qualities making it unique to the style or period. When appropriate, musical examples will be included to demonstrate specific instances of unique musical characteristics. By examining these characteristics, the author intends to establish an evolutionary path of sacred solo literature