intermezzo

American  

[in-ter-met-soh, -med-zoh] / ˌɪn tərˈmɛt soʊ, -ˈmɛd zoʊ /

noun

• intermezzos,
  plural
• intermezzi
  plural

1. a short dramatic, musical, or other entertainment of light character, introduced between the acts of a drama or opera.

2. a short musical composition between main divisions of an extended musical work.

3. a short, independent musical composition.

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intermezzo British  

/ ˌɪntəˈmɛtsəʊ /

noun

1. a short piece of instrumental music composed for performance between the acts or scenes of an opera, drama, etc

2. an instrumental piece either inserted between two longer movements in an extended composition or intended for independent performance

3. another name for interlude

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• intermezzi
  plural
• intermezzos
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of intermezzo

1805–15; < Italian < Late Latin intermedium; see intermediary

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

intermezzo intermezzi intermezzos

Cliff's Edge is offering a three-course, prix-fixe menu for $75 per person, with an additional oyster amuse and granita intermezzo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2018

Because he’s not a fast writer, with nine years between each of his novels, the collection offers his fans a quick fix — a kind of intermezzo — of his distinctive voice.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 28, 2017

Last year sales of accessories reached $500 million in the U.S., an intermezzo compared with the $3.1 billion worth of musical instruments.

From Forbes ● Aug. 20, 2014

Her agitation in the orchestral intermezzo, as she waited for Pinkerton's ship to make its promised return, was almost unbearable.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 15, 2013

We had a really good laugh at this little intermezzo.

From "The Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank

Performers got to rest during the intermezzi between acts, when a ballet or brief comic opera kept the show going.

From New York Times ● Apr. 18, 2014

With the orchestral works should go two intermezzi for "The Masque of Pandora," finished later than the overture.

From Woman's Work in Music by Arthur Elson

He became 186 prominent as one of the early composers of intermezzi and he was employed also to write church music for wedding festivals.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by W. J. (William James) Henderson

We possess the scheme for the four intermezzi designed for this occasion, representing the Musica della Terra, del Mare, dell' Aria, and Celeste.

From Pastoral Poetry and Pastoral Drama A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration Stage in England by Walter W. Greg

The Count of Vernio's comedy "Amico Fido" was played and was accompanied by six spectacular intermezzi with music.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by W. J. (William James) Henderson

The notion was not so far removed from the origins of the two works, conceived as comic intermezzos to be presented during breaks of larger serious operas.

From New York Times ● Jun. 19, 2017

Mr. Rose was at his most varied and flexible in the Fantasy Pieces, in which his assertive renderings of the outgoing capriccios were offset by graceful, richly detailed playing in the more subtle intermezzos.

From New York Times ● Jul. 18, 2011

Certainly Intermezzo's pacing feels more cinematic than operatic: 13 snappy episodes are divided by orchestral intermezzos – like breaks in a sitcom when the camera scans the city skyline.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 24, 2011

Meanwhile, the mournful, enigmatic intermezzos of the composer's later years get tender, loving care.

From Time Magazine Archive

Fairy and demon operas and ballets, and farces and intermezzos, form an easy transition to the interludes of tumblers and jugglers.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6 "Dodwell" to "Drama" by Various

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