Interlude |

Late Lat. interludium, from lat. inter – between and ludus – game

1) A musical (vocal-instr. or instr.) piece performed between acts of an opera or drama.

May be related to the stage. action, choreography. More often it is called interlude or intermezzo.

2) Music. a play or a detailed construction performed between the stanzas of the chorale (improvised on the organ), between the main. partly cyclical. prod. (sonata, suite).

Usually, the function of separation predominates in I., which is often emphasized by a contrast in relation to the previous and subsequent, although less developed and bright thematic. material (for example, I. “Walk” between the main parts of “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky, I. between the fugues of Hindemith’s Ludus tonalis). In I., where the function of communication is accentuated, thematic. material is often borrowed from the previous section but developed in a new aspect.

In this case, I., as a rule, is not a complete play (for example, I. in fugues).

G. F. Müller