Entr'acte
Music played between the acts of an opera or play.
What it means
An entr'acte, French for “between the acts,” is a piece of music played in opera, theatre, or ballet between two acts, while the stage is being rearranged or a dramaturgical pause is bridged. It may be independently composed or draw on themes from the preceding or following act.
Musical use
Entr'actes appear in numerous operas and stage works of the 18th and 19th centuries, where they served the practical function of musically entertaining the audience during technical scene changes, and were also used dramaturgically to prepare or let a mood linger. Well-known examples are the entr'actes in Georges Bizet's opera Carmen, which form musically self-contained, often-quoted character pieces.
An entr'acte should be distinguished from an overture, which is played at the beginning of an entire work and introduces it as a whole, whereas the entr'acte stands within the work, between individual acts. It differs from an intermezzo mainly through its fixed dramaturgical placement between acts, whereas an intermezzo can also occur within an act or as an independent instrumental piece outside stage music.
Performance practice
When studying a stage work, listen specifically for whether an entr'acte draws on musical material from the surrounding acts or presents independent, contrasting material, since this reveals the composer's dramaturgical intent. When performing an entr'acte in the concert hall, detached from the stage action, shape the performance so the piece feels coherent in itself even without its original scenic context.