With "Il trionfo della morte" by Bonaventuro Aliotti from 1677, the French ensemble Les Traversées Baroque presents an important example of an early oratorio. The form of the oratorio developed after the Catholic Church in the Council of Trent (1545-1563) severely restricted the use of music in church services. Some religious congregations then began to perform new forms of music in their prayer and assembly rooms, the "oratorios". An important center for the development of the oratorio or "Dialoghi sacri", as this musical form of theological approach was called, was Sicily.

It is well known that in Venice a "Golden Age" of compositional, vocal, and instrumental musical creativity and virtuosity emerged, and then flourished during the mid-1500s to the mid-1700s. The 16th century experienced a substantial development in the cappella ducale of Saint Mark's, which, until the end of the 17th century, remained the leading center of musical activity in the city. Evidence of this comes from the profusion of significant musicians that it received in that "Golden Age": either as maestri di cappella, or as organists (Claudio Merulo, Andrea and Giovanni Gabrieli), or as virtuoso instrumentalists (the cornet player Giovanni Bassano). Claudio Merulo and Andrea Gabrieli played a decisive role in the simultaneous emergence of Venetian keyboard and stile concertato music.