interlude
An interlude (from Latin: inter : 'between', ludus : 'game') is a musical interlude. - A scenic interlude is more likely to be referred to as an intermedia , although the demarcation is not always clear.
This term has been used since the 17th century for a smaller instrumental piece between operatic scenes. Since the interludes had nothing to do with the opera in terms of content, they were often used for other operas as well.
In addition, the term interludium refers to the often improvised organ interplay between hymns , psalm or chorale verses and stanzas, especially in church singing. There have been guidelines for this since the 18th century, for example that the interlude must be based on the chorale melody. Modulating transitions between suite sets were also called interlude. Interludes have been printed since the 17th century ( Henry Purcell ). The term still exists in the 20th century, for example in Paul Hindemith's Ludus tonalis . In a broader sense, the term has a more rhetorical meaning, one speaks of an interlude when a speaker deviates from the topic for a short time in order to loosen up his lecture. A poetry reading or its recording on sound carriers can be loosened up with an interlude. Interludium today is often a translation of the English interlude : music CDs, such as productions from the R&B area, contain interludes between individual songs , which mostly consist of instrumental music.
In a figurative sense, one speaks of an interlude when, for example, an artist makes a detour into an art field that is actually foreign to him (e.g. when the singer Bobby McFerrin appears as the conductor of the Vienna Philharmonic ).
literature
- Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht (ed.): Riemann Musik Lexikon , subject part, Mainz: Schott 1967, p. 407
