Aquesta tesi presenta dues parts clarament diferenciades, però al mateix temps complementàries: a la primera s'aporten els fonaments de la història de l'oratori a Catalunya al segle XVIII, i a la segona es procedeix a l'estudi de la vida i dels oratoris de Francesc Queralt (es presenten nou partitures completes i inèdites de nou oratoris de Queralt). Tot plegat es completa amb dos catàlegs, un de llibrets (amb 384 exemplars) i un altre de partitures (amb 77 exemplars), tots ells, i això és important, de compositors catalans. Pel que fa a l'establiment dels fonaments històrics del gènere s'han emprat, principalment, dues fonts: els propis llibrets per una banda, i el diari (1769-1816) de Rafael d'Amat i de Cortada, Baró de Maldà (Barcelona 1746-1819), per l'altra. Els llibrets contenen una gran quantitat d'informació relativa a les circumstàncies que envolten cadascuna de les interpretacions; a partir d'ells es poden determinar els llocs on es cantaven aquestes obres, les capelles musicals que els executaven, els motius pels quals s'interpretaven,... El diari del Baró de Maldà, per altra banda, narra tota una sèrie d'esdeveniments ocorreguts, la major part d'ells, a la ciutat de Barcelona. Alguns d'aquests fets tenen relació amb l'oratori. Tot això ha permès la presentació de 40 compositors catalans dedicats a l'oratori i de 62 esglésies d'arreu de Catalunya on s'interpretaven aquestes obres. També s'exposen els motius pels quals es cantaven aquestes composicions.Pel que fa a la biografia de Francesc Queralt s'han determinat alguns aspectes significatius: la seva admissió com a mestre de capella de la catedral de Barcelona (1774), la seva promoció als diferents ordes eclesiàstics (1777-1779), el seu sou, els seus deixebles, la seva disputa amb Carles Baguer per la interpretació d'un oratori l'any 1796 (finalment es va cantar l'Oratorio dels dolors* de Francesc Queralt que, per altra banda, és el que es presenta a l'apèndix 5 d'aquesta tesi), la seva participació en tribunals d'oposicions, el seu acomiadament com a mestre de capella (1815) i la seva mort (1825).Des del punt de vista de la música de Francesc Queralt cal assenyalar que el compositor seguia molt d'aprop l'estil dels autors italians i germànics. L'estudi del llenguatge harmònico-formal dels seus oratoris permet observar la seva evolució musical. Així, per exemple, en les seves primeres composicions, acords com ara sextes augmentades o sèptimes disminuïdes es relacionaven amb passatges que expressaven, per exemple, sentiments de dolor, pena o terror. En obres posteriors aquestes mateixes harmonies són utilitzades per motius purament estructurals, per exemple en una modulació. Des del punt de vista de la modulació els oratoris de Francesc Queralt també experimenten una evolució: en les primeres obres les modulacions són bàsicament diatòniques, mentre que en les darreres es troba una major varietat. En els oratoris més moderns existeixen modulacions cromàtiques, canvis de mode, canvis de to, o mitjançant sèptimes disminuïdes o sextes augmentades. També hi ha modulacions que es produeixen a partir d'una única nota que canvia de funció. El tractament orquestral també evoluciona: en les darreres obres la secció del vent va adquirint cada cop més independència. En els primers oratoris els instruments de vent s'utilitzen bàsicament per donar suport harmònic; en els darrers ja tenen, en alguns casos, assignat material musical propi, mentre la corda fa l'acompanyament. L'estudi de la tipologia de les àries permet concloure que des del punt de vista formal l'evolució musical de Francesc Queralt és similar a la dels seus col·legues europeusConsiderant que l'oratori és un gènere que té una part musical i una altra de literària cal també fer un estudi dels textos. Els llibrets utilitzats per Francesc Queralt poden comparar-se, per les seves característiques, amb els de Zeno i Metastasio, els dos poetes més influents del moment. Cal assenyalar que alguns dels llibrets utilitzats per Queralt són al·legòrics: en aquests s'explica un passatge de l'Antic Testament i, en els dos números finals es compara la virtut del personatge veterotestamentari amb la virtut del sant a qui l'oratori està dedicat. / This dissertation is written in two parts clearly different one from another: in the first part the foundations of the history of the oratorio in Catalonia in the Eighteenth Century are drawn, while the second part deals with the study of Francesc Queralt's life and of his oratorios (nine complete and hitherto unknown oratorios by Queralt are presented). All this is completed with two catalogues, one of libretti (with 384 items) and another of music (with 77 items), all of them, and this is important, by catalan composers. Concerning the historic foundations of the genre, two sources have been used: the libretti and the diary (1769-1816) written by the catalan nobleman Rafael d'Amat i de Cortada, Baron of Maldà (Barcelona 1746-1819). The libretti contain a great deal of information related to the circumstantes that surrounded each of the performances; from those it has been possible to establish the places where these compositions were sung, the chapels that performed them, the reasons why they were played,... The Baron of Maldà's diary narrates many of the events that occurred, the most part of them, in the city of Barcelona. Some of those are related to the oratorio. Both sources allow to contribute with the name of 40 catalan composers devoted to the genre of the oratorio and also with 62 churches around Catalonia where these compositions were sung. If we turn to Francesc Queralt's biography, some significant aspects have also been established: his admission as mestre de capella at Barcelona Cathedral (1774), his promotion to the different ecclesiastical orders (1777-1779), his salary, his pupils, a dispute with the organist Carles Baguer on the performance of an oratorio in 1796 (eventually Queralt's Oratorio dels dolors* was sung, work which is presented in appendix 5 in this dissertation), his participation as a member of the jury in several exams to obtain posts in different chapels in Barcelona, his dismissal as mestre de capella (1815), and his death (1825). Concerning the music it must be stated that the composer's style was quite near from that of the italian and germanic authors. The study of the harmonic and formal languge of his oratorios allows to establish his musical evolution. Thus, for instance, in Queralt's first works, chords like augmented sixths or diminished sevenths are related with passages expressing sorrow, pain or terror. In latter works such chords were used generally for structural reasons, e. g. a modulation. Concerning the modulation, Queralt's works show a clear evolution: in his early compositions the modulations found are basically diatonic; in more recent works there is a greater variety. In the more modern oratorios there are chromatic modulations, changes of mode, changes of tonality or modulations by means of a diminished seventh or an augmented sixth. There are also modulations produced by one single note that changes its function. The use of the orchestra is as well different: in the latter works the wind section is clearly more and more independent. In the former oratorios the winds are basically used to provide harmonic support; in more modern compositions the wood-wind instruments, in some instances, play the important melodic part, while the accompaniment goes on the strings. The study of the aria types allows to conclude that form the formal point of view the musical evolution of those oratorios is similar to that of his european colleagues. One must have in mind that the oratorio is a twofold genre: they are composed with music and words. That is why any study on this kind of music must also consider the literary part. The libretti used by Francesc Queralt can be compared, according to their characteristics, to those written by Zeno and Metastasio, the two most influential poets of their time. It must be pointed out that some of the libretti used by Francesc Queralt are allegorical: in those a passage taken out form the Old Testament is presented in the first movements of the oratorio, and in the two final numbers the virtue of the Old Testament character is compared with that of the saint to whom the oratorio is devoted.

Durante l’episcopato del Cardinal Ferrari (1894-1921) gli oratori ambrosiani vissero un periodo di particolare vivacità. Il loro incremento quantitativo, infatti, fu accompagnato da una riforma organizzativa e pedagogica, che intendeva rispondere ai nuovi bisogni formativi emergenti dal processo di industrializzazione e modernizzazione del tessuto sociale milanese. Lo Statuto arcivescovile del 1904 esprimeva una sintesi armonica tra la tradizione catechistico-formativa di ascendenza borromaica e le esigenze di ammodernamento della pastorale giovanile, non senza dialogare con la cultura oratoriana promossa a livello nazionale dai filippini e dai salesiani. Gli oratori ambrosiani delinearono un ampio progetto di educazione popolare, che comprendeva la formazione religiosa, morale, patriottica e fisico-igienica del giovane, e assunsero nella loro prassi nuovi strumenti formativi come la ginnastica, il cinematografo, il teatro e alcune iniziative economico-assistenziali, che affiancarono le già consolidate attività della Dottrina e della ricreazione. Nell’alveo di una progettualità pedagogica sostanzialmente ancorata a modelli educativi tradizionali, ma aperta sul piano pratico al portato della modernità, il movimento oratoriano milanese incarnò un’esperienza di pastorale giovanile coerente con la cultura popolare cattolica coeva e destinata a segnare in modo esemplare la storia dell’attenzione educativa della Chiesa alle giovani generazioni. / Cardinal Ferrari’s episcopate (1894-1921) was an age of unknown liveliness for Milan parish youth clubs. It was marked by an educational and organisational transformation whose purpose was to meet the growing upbringing needs coming from the process of industrialization and modernisation which was affecting Milan society. The Archiepiscopal Chart drawn in 1904 came into being as a successful synthesis of the traditional Archbishop Borromeo’s approach to youth pastoral centred upon catechesis and the pressing need to update, while interacting with the national youth education scholarship promoted by the Salesians of Don Bosco and that of the Oratory by Filippo Neri. Milan parish youth clubs drew up a wide-ranging project of popular education which included religious, moral, patriotic and even physical-hygienic upbringing targets for the young, to be carried out by innovative resources such as physical education, cinema, acting-out, as well as up-to-date charitable opportunities which were backed up by the well-established everlasting activities of catechism and game time. Despite being embedded into a planning process shaped by traditionally imprinted educational models but also oriented to innovation, the Milan parish-youth-club movement epitomised a type of youth pastoral which would mark definitely the history of the youth educational-oriented approach of the Church.