intermezzo in music meaning | TheMusicDictionary

Meaning of Intermezzo in Music

In music, an **intermezzo** refers to a composition that fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. The term "intermezzo" has had different usages throughout music history, falling into two general categories: the opera intermezzo and the instrumental intermezzo.

Renaissance IntermezzoDuring the Renaissance, the intermezzo, also known as the intermedio, was a masque-like dramatic piece with music. It was performed between the acts of a play at Italian court festivities, particularly weddings. By the late 16th century, the intermezzo had become the most spectacular form of dramatic performance and an important precursor to opera.

Instrumental IntermezzoThe instrumental intermezzo is a short, independent musical composition that serves as an interlude between main divisions of an extended musical work. It can be found in various forms, such as solo piano pieces, orchestral compositions, or chamber music.

Usage in OperaIn Italy, opera evolved within the framework of the intermezzo. Comic intermezzi were performed between the acts of serious operas in the 17th and 18th centuries. These intermezzi, usually for soprano and bass and sung throughout, gave rise to opera buffa, the characteristic Italian comic opera.

Examples of Intermezzo- The third movement of Béla Bartók's "Concerto for Orchestra" is titled "Intermezzo interrotto" and is a parody of a march.- Edvard Grieg's "Macbeth" includes an intermezzo section of gently rippling music between two verses of a tranquil hymn.

Overall, an intermezzo in music can refer to a composition that serves as an interlude between other musical or dramatic entities, or it can be a short, independent musical composition that acts as an interlude within a larger work

1. An Italian term for interlude

2. A comic play with music performed between the acts, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries in France and Italy.

3. An instrumental interlude between the acts of a performance.

4. A short, lyric composition, often for the piano.

5. In the old dance suite, this term refers to two to four short dance movements between the sarabande and the gigue. Often seen in the plural form, intermezzi.