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Inmusic, anintermezzo (/ˌɪntərˈmɛtsoʊ/,Italian pronunciation:[interˈmɛddzo], plural form:intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term has had several different usages, which fit into two general categories: theopera intermezzo and the instrumental intermezzo.
The Renaissance intermezzo was also called the intermedio. It was amasque-like dramatic piece with music, which was performed between the acts of a play at Italian court festivities on special occasions, especially weddings. By the late 16th century, the intermezzo had become the most spectacular form of dramatic performance, and an important precursor to opera. The most famous examples were created forMedici weddings in 1539, 1565, and 1589. In Baroque Spain the equivalententremés or paso was a one-act comic scene, often ending in music and dance, betweenjornadas (acts) of a play.[1]
The intermezzo, in the 18th century, was a comic operatic interlude inserted between acts or scenes of anopera seria. These intermezzi could be substantial and complete works themselves, though they were shorter than theopera seria which enclosed them; typically they provided comic relief and dramatic contrast to the tone of the bigger opera around them, and often they used one or more of the stock characters from the opera or from thecommedia dell'arte. In this they were the reverse of the Renaissance intermezzo, which usually had a mythological or pastoral subject as a contrast to a main comic play. Often they were of a burlesque nature, and characterized byslapstick comedy, disguises, dialect, and ribaldry. The most famous of all intermezzi from the period isPergolesi'sLa serva padrona, which was anopera buffa that after the death of Pergolesi kicked off theQuerelle des Bouffons.
In some cases the intermezzo repertory spread more quickly than did theopera seria itself; the singers were often renowned, the comic effects were popular, and intermezzi were relatively easy to produce and stage. In the 1730s the style spread around Europe, and some cities—for example Moscow—recorded visits and performances by troupes performing intermezzi years before any actualopera seria were done.
Theintermède (the French equivalent of the intermezzo) was the single most important outside operatic influence inParis in the mid-18th century, and helped create an entire new repertory of opera inFrance (seeopéra comique).
The word was used (with a hint of irony) as the title ofRichard Strauss's two-act opera,Intermezzo (1924), the scale of which far exceeds the intermezzo of tradition.
Many of the most celebrated intermezzi are from operas of the verismo period: Mascagni'sCavalleria rusticana andL'amico Fritz, Leoncavallo'sPagliacci, Puccini'sSuor Angelica, Giordano'sFedora, and especially that from Massenet'sThais, which became known as theMéditation.
In the 19th century, the intermezzo acquired another meaning: an instrumental piece which was either a movement between two others in a larger work or a character piece that could stand on its own. These intermezzi show a wide variation in the style and function: inMendelssohn'sincidental music toA Midsummer Night's Dream the intermezzo serves as musical connecting material for action inShakespeare's play; in chamber music by Mendelssohn andBrahms, the intermezzi are names for interior movements which would otherwise be calledscherzi; and the piano intermezzi by Brahms, some of his last compositions, are sets of independent character pieces not intended to connect anything else together. Stylistically, intermezzi of the 19th century are usually lyrical and melodic, especially compared to the movements on either side, when they occur in larger works. The Brahms piano intermezzi in particular have an extremely wide emotional range, and are often considered some of the finestcharacter pieces written in the 19th century.
Opera composers sometimes wrote instrumental intermezzi as connecting pieces between acts of operas. In this sense, an intermezzo is similar to theentr'acte. The most famous of this type of intermezzo is probably the intermezzo fromMascagni'sCavalleria rusticana.Puccini also wrote intermezzi forManon Lescaut andMadama Butterfly, and examples exist byWolf-Ferrari,Delius and others.
Also,incidental music forplays usually contained several intermezzi.Schubert'sRosamunde music as well asGrieg'sPeer Gynt contained several intermezzi for the respective plays.
Schumann combined intermezzi in several of his works featuring piano, including thePiano Concerto Op. 54.Carnaval Op. 9 and intermezzi Op. 4
In the 20th century, the term was used occasionally.Shostakovich named one movement of his darkString Quartet No. 15 "intermezzo";Bartók used the term for the fourth movement (of five) of hisConcerto for Orchestra.
