Intermezzo (instrumental music)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The word intermezzo (Italian for 'interlude') has been used to describe a movement or a one-movement piece in instrumental music since the 19th century .

Sometimes a musical character piece for piano is so called that is either in one movement and independent or belongs as a middle movement to a piano sonata or a piano concerto . In the latter case it is often a scherzo . Robert Schumann wrote several intermezzi incorporated into larger piano works and an independent intermezzo (op. 4). Most famous are the 18 interludes by Johannes Brahms , and Max Reger also wrote interludes for piano and organ. John Cage wrote piano pieces that he called interludes .

Most of the pieces of music called Intermezzo are for orchestra or chamber music . While the term intermezzo was used more for a scenic interlude in opera in the 18th century , it has also been used for instrumental opera interludes since the 19th century, similar to the older interlude . There are interludes performed by the orchestra in one-act verismo operas , such as in Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana , or (with a silent film screening) in Alban Berg's Lulu .

literature