Intermezzo

What it means

Intermezzo means interlude and designates several things. Historically these are short, usually comic scenes that were played between the acts of a serious opera; from them the comic opera developed in the eighteenth century as a genre of its own. In instrumental music, intermezzo means a movement between weightier movements or an independent character piece, above all for piano. In the opera of the nineteenth century the term also designates an orchestral interlude with an open or closed stage.

Musical use

Common to all uses is the position between other things: an intermezzo has no load-bearing function in the formal framework but creates distance, change, or calm. From this follow its properties — manageable extent, distinctly set-off character, often a lighter tone. As a piano piece of the Romantic period the intermezzo is often lyrical and introspective, in ternary layout with a contrasting middle section. The orchestral interlude in opera bridges time and at the same time hints at what happens between the scenes.

In the eighteenth century the intermezzo was a comic interlude between the acts of a serious opera, like Pergolesi's La serva padrona, from which the opera buffa developed. In the nineteenth century the term was transferred to short instrumental pieces, for instance in Brahms, whose late piano intermezzi are among the most significant examples. In operas, intermezzo also designates an orchestral interlude, as in Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana.

Performance practice

First determine which meaning is present, because character and extent deviate strongly. With piano pieces of this title, calm, singing shaping is in the foreground; keep the tempo stable and work out the middle section distinctly differently. In operas the interlude is often the only moment at which the orchestra speaks alone — use it and do not press it down into a mere bridge. With staged performances, settle the coordination with the stage action.

Remember that an intermezzo within a cycle sets a point of rest and therefore must not turn out too weighty: check the relation to the neighbouring movements before you fix tempo and volume.

With staged interludes, settle whether the curtain stays closed, because this influences tempo and character.