(from Italian, meaning 'in the middle') Most often describes an instrumental piece played in the middle of an opera Can also describe a short piano piece, or a comic interlude played between scenes of an opera
a short piece of instrumental music composed for performance between acts of a drama or opera a short movement coming between the major sections of a symphony
1 A short, lyrical instrumental piece either part of a larger work or as an independent composition 2 Comical musical entertainment played between the acts of an opera during the 18th century
{i} entertaining musical composition performed between the acts of a play or opera; short piece of music placed between two larger sections of a composition; short musical composition
its meaning has developed over the centuries During the Renaissance, it described light theatrical sketches inserted between the acts of comedies In the 18th century, the term came to mean comic interludes that were sung between the acts or scene changes of an opera Its meaning in the 19th century came to include single movement concert pieces, usually for piano