Schuldramen und Oratorien bei den Preßburger Jesuiten im 18. Jahrhundert

The oratorio was certainly not one of the favorite musical genres of the Jesuits in the 17th-18 century. The Pressburg Jesuits, however, have also performed oratorios in the 18th century, except their typical school dramas. The "golden age" of the oratorio in Pressburg were the 20s and 30s of the 18th century, i. e. the period of office of the Prince Primate Emericus Esterházy. At that time, there were performed 1–2 oratorios per year dedicated to the Primate by the libretits F. Syhn and by composer J. M. Schenauer in the Bratislava Jesuit Church. We know of them unfortunately only the text books. The Pressburg Jesuits have also worked with the court composer G. Ch. Wagenseil: from the oratorio Mater dolorum (1773) has only been handed a libretto, a yet unknown Oratorio per la Novenna di S. Xaverio (1750), however, is completely preserved.