Intermezzo

DEFINITION

A comic play with music performed between the acts, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries in France and Italy. An instrumental interlude between the acts of a performance. A short, lyric composition, often for the piano. In the old dance suite, this term refers to two to four short dance movements between the sarabande and the gigue.Most often describes an instrumental piece played in the middle of an opera. Can also describe a short piano piece, or a comic interlude played between scenes of an opera.