Interlude, in musical terms, is a piece of music played between scenes or acts of an opera or play. In some instrumental works, an interlude comes between two larger movements. Sometimes, an organ interlude is played between the verses of a hymn.
The Four Sea Interludes from the English composer Benjamin Britten‘s opera Peter Grimes (1945) help to set the musical mood at various points in the action as well as giving the impression of time passing. These interludes depict dawn, Sunday morning, moonlight, and a storm.
The word interlude is often used simply as the name of a piece of music in one movement. Another term for interlude is intermezzo.
The term interlude also applies to a form of drama especially popular in England during the early and middle 1500’s. Interludes were performed during some other form of entertainment, such as a banquet, before or after a play, or between acts of a play. Interludes were performed at the English court or in the homes of the aristocracy and the wealthy, sometimes by amateur actors and sometimes by minstrels.
