incidental music

American  

noun

1. music intended primarily to point up or accompany parts of the action of a play or to serve as transitional material between scenes.

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incidental music British  

noun

1. background music for a film, television programme, etc

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Etymology

Origin of incidental music

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

In the middle of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s suite of incidental music for “Much Ado About Nothing,” there’s a march meant to accompany Dogberry, Shakespeare’s comic constable, and his fellow watchmen.

From New York Times • Apr. 14, 2024

Originally the concert was to include a staged performance by director Alberto Arvelo of Mendelssohn’s incidental music to “Midsummer’s Night Dream” with vocal soloists and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 9, 2023

The evening opened with “The Consecration of the House,” an overture Beethoven wholly revised in 1822 from incidental music originally composed a decade earlier for August von Kotzebue’s play, “The Ruins of Athens.”

From Washington Post • Jan. 28, 2022

The calliope-heavy incidental music sounds like a carousel.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2021

Some very good incidental music to this play was written by Victorin de Jonci�res for Alexandre Dumas and Paul Meurice's version.

From Shakespeare and Music by Wilson, Christopher