interlude

interlude development in the late 15th cent. of the English medieval morality play. Played between the acts of a long play, the interlude, treating intellectual rather than moral topics, often contained elements of satire or farce. The form developed in Italy as the intermedio and intermezzo , in France as the entremet or intermede and as the entrée, which involved only dance. In Spain the entremés became an independent form as in the work of Cervantes.

Bibliography: See E. K. Chambers, The Medieval Stage (1903); V. F. Hopper and G. B. Lahey, ed., Medieval Mysteries, Moralities and Interludes (1962).

interlude. Piece of mus. played between other pieces, such as an org. passage played between verses of a hymn, or between the acts of a play, or between scenes in an opera (e.g. the Sea Interludes in Britten's Peter Grimes). Also used as a title of a mus. work without above connotations.

interlude Short theatrical piece, prominent in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, which provided entertainment during royal and noble banquets. Performed by a small travelling company, it combined moral messages with clowning, and is sometimes seen as the starting point for English drama. It was the immediate precursor of Elizabethan comedy.