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46-469: The Renaissance intermezzo was also called the intermedio. It was a masque -like dramatic piece with music, which was performed between the acts of a play at Italian court festivities on special occasions, especially weddings. By the late 16th century, the intermezzo had become the most spectacular form of dramatic performance, and an important precursor to opera. The most famous examples were created for Medici weddings in 1539, 1565, and 1589. In Baroque Spain

92-468: A royal entry and invariably ended with a tableau of bliss and concord. Masque imagery tended to be drawn from Classical rather than Christian sources, and the artifice was part of the Grand dance. Masque thus lent itself to Mannerist treatment in the hands of master designers like Giulio Romano or Inigo Jones . The New Historians , in works like the essays of Bevington and Holbrook's The Politics of

138-474: A "short play". When the insert was intended only to shift the mood before returning to the main action, without a change of scene being necessary, authors could revert to a " play within a play " technique, or have some accidental guests in a ballroom perform a dance, etc. In this case the insert is a divertimento (the term is Italian; the French divertissement is also used) rather than an entr'acte . In

184-594: A deferential allegory flattering to the patron. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts. Masquers who did not speak or sing were often courtiers: the English queen Anne of Denmark frequently danced with her ladies in masques between 1603 and 1611, and Henry VIII and Charles I of England performed in the masques at their courts. In the tradition of masque, Louis XIV of France danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully . The masque tradition developed from

230-467: A familiar example. Spectators were invited to join in the dancing. At the end, the players would take off their masks to reveal their identities. In England, Tudor court masques developed from earlier guisings , where a masked allegorical figure would appear and address the assembled company—providing a theme for the occasion—with musical accompaniment. Costumes were designed by professionals, including Niccolo da Modena . Hall's Chronicle explained

276-508: A masque of Solomon and Sheba at Theobalds . Harington was not so much concerned with the masque itself as with the notoriously heavy drinking at the Court of King James I; "the entertainment went forward, and most of the presenters went backward, or fell down, wine did so occupy their upper chambers". As far as we can ascertain the details of the masque, the Queen of Sheba was to bring gifts to

322-422: A masque was to indicate that the modern choreography typical when he wrote the piece would not be suitable. Vaughan Williams' protégé Elizabeth Maconchy composed a masque, The Birds (1967–68), an "extravaganza" after Aristophanes . Constant Lambert also wrote a piece he called a masque, Summer's Last Will and Testament , for orchestra, chorus and baritone. His title he took from Thomas Nash , whose masque

368-567: A masque-like interlude in The Tempest , understood by modern scholars to have been heavily influenced by the masques of Ben Jonson and the stagecraft of Inigo Jones. There is also a masque sequence in his Romeo and Juliet and Henry VIII . John Milton 's Comus (with music by Henry Lawes ) is described as a masque, though it is generally reckoned a pastoral play . There is a detailed, humorous, and malicious (and possibly completely fictitious) account by Sir John Harington in 1606 of

414-415: A minimum of requisites during intermissions of other elaborate theatre pieces. These later entr'actes were distinctly intended to break the action or mood with something different, such as comedy or dance. Such pieces also allowed the chief players of the main piece to have a break. Eventually the idea of being an insert into a greater whole became looser: interlude sometimes has no other connotation than

460-579: A movement between two others in a larger work or a character piece that could stand on its own. These intermezzi show a wide variation in the style and function: in Mendelssohn 's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream the intermezzo serves as musical connecting material for action in Shakespeare 's play; in chamber music by Mendelssohn and Brahms , the intermezzi are names for interior movements which would otherwise be called scherzi ; and

506-491: A pictorial tableau, as one in the Shakespeare collaboration, Pericles, Prince of Tyre (III.i)—a tableau that is immediately explicated at some length by the poet-narrator, Gower . Dumbshows were a Medieval element that continued to be popular in early Elizabethan drama , but by the time Pericles (c. 1607–08) or Hamlet (c. 1600–02) were staged, they were perhaps quaintly old-fashioned: "What means this, my lord?"

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552-572: A stage production, synonymous to an intermission (this is nowadays the more common meaning in French), but it more often (in English) indicates a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production. In the case of stage musicals, the entr'acte serves as the overture of act 2 (and sometimes acts 3 and 4, as in Carmen ). In films that were meant to be shown with an intermission, there

598-447: Is Ophelia's reaction. In English masques, purely musical interludes might be accompanied by a dumbshow. The masque has its origins in a folk tradition where masked players would unexpectedly call on a nobleman in his hall, dancing and bringing gifts on certain nights of the year, or celebrating dynastic occasions. The rustic presentation of "Pyramus and Thisbe" as a wedding entertainment in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream offers

644-539: The Harefield Entertainment . In Scotland, masques were performed at court, particularly at wedding celebrations, and the royal wardrobe provided costumes . Performers at a masque at Castle Campbell dressed as shepherds. Mary, Queen of Scots , Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley , and David Rizzio took part in a masque in February 1566. Mary attended the wedding of her servant Bastian Pagez , and it

690-665: The " intermezzi " of the Medici court in Florence could rival them. In English theatre tradition, a dumbshow is a masque-like interlude of silent mime usually with allegorical content that refers to the occasion of a play or its theme, the most famous being the dumbshow played out in Hamlet (III.ii). Dumbshows might be a moving spectacle, like a procession, as in Thomas Kyd 's The Spanish Tragedy (1580s), or they might form

736-484: The 'closed curtain' periods: ballet , opera and drama each have a rich tradition of such musical interludes. The literal meaning of the German word Verwandlungsmusik refers to its original function – "change music". Eventually, entr'actes (or intermezzi ) would develop into a separate genre of short theatrical realizations (often with a plot completely independent from the main piece) that could be produced with

782-484: The 18th century, a divertimento had become a separate genre of light music as well. These divertimenti could be used as interludes in stage works, many of the divertimenti composed in the last half of the 18th century appears to have lost the relation to the theatre, the music in character only having to be a "diversion" in one or another way. Some more or less elaborate or independent entr'actes or intermezzi became famous in their own right, in some cases eclipsing

828-464: The French opera tradition of the end of the 17th century and early 18th century ( Jean-Philippe Rameau , for example) such divertissements would become compulsory in the form of an inserted ballet passage, a tradition that continued until well into the 19th century. This was eventually parodied by Jacques Offenbach : for example, the cancan ending Orpheus in the Underworld . By the middle of

874-524: The King, representing Solomon, and was to be followed by the spirits of Faith, Hope, Charity, Victory and Peace. Unfortunately, as Harington reported, the actress playing the Queen tripped over the steps of the throne, sending her gifts flying; Hope and Faith were too drunk to speak a word, while Peace, annoyed at finding her way to the throne blocked, made good use of her symbolic olive branches to slap anyone who

920-520: The Puritans closed the English theatres in 1642, the masque was the highest art form in England. But because of its ephemeral nature, not a lot of documentation related to masques remains, and much of what is said about the production and enjoyment of masques is still part speculation. While the masque was no longer as popular as it was at its height in the 17th century, there are many later examples of

966-544: The Stuart Court Masque (1998), have pointed out the political subtext of masques. At times, the political subtext was not far to seek: The Triumph of Peace , put on with a large amount of parliament-raised money by Charles I , caused great offence to the Puritans . Catherine de' Medici's court festivals , often even more overtly political, were among the most spectacular entertainments of her day, although

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1012-414: The closed curtains, the action could be continued during these entr'actes , albeit involving only players with no scenery other than the curtain, and a minimum of props . An entr'acte can take the action from one part of a large-scale drama to the next by completing the missing links. The Spanish Sainete often performed a similar function. In traditional theatre, incidental music could also bridge

1058-590: The concord and unity between Queen and Kingdom. A descriptive narrative of a processional masque is the masque of the Seven Deadly Sins in Edmund Spenser 's The Faerie Queene (Book i, Canto IV). A particularly elaborate masque, performed over the course of two weeks for Queen Elizabeth, is described in the 1821 novel Kenilworth , by Sir Walter Scott . Queen Elizabeth was entertained at country houses during her progresses with performances like

1104-419: The elaborate pageants and courtly shows of ducal Burgundy in the late Middle Ages . Masques were typically a complimentary offering to the prince among his guests and might combine pastoral settings, mythological fables, and the dramatic elements of ethical debate. There would invariably be some political and social application of the allegory. Such pageants often celebrated a birth, marriage, change of ruler or

1150-455: The equivalent entremés or paso was a one-act comic scene, often ending in music and dance, between jornadas (acts) of a play. The intermezzo, in the 18th century, was a comic operatic interlude inserted between acts or scenes of an opera seria . These intermezzi could be substantial and complete works themselves, though they were shorter than the opera seria which enclosed them; typically they provided comic relief and dramatic contrast to

1196-653: The finest character pieces written in the 19th century. Opera composers sometimes wrote instrumental intermezzi as connecting pieces between acts of operas. In this sense, an intermezzo is similar to the entr'acte . The most famous of this type of intermezzo is probably the intermezzo from Mascagni 's Cavalleria rusticana . Puccini also wrote intermezzi for Manon Lescaut and Madama Butterfly , and examples exist by Wolf-Ferrari , Delius and others. Also, incidental music for plays usually contained several intermezzi. Schubert 's Rosamunde music as well as Grieg 's Peer Gynt contained several intermezzi for

1242-505: The first half of the 19th century. With the renaissance of English musical composition during the late 19th and early 20th century (the so-called English Musical Renaissance ), English composers turned to the masque as a way of connecting to a genuinely English musical-dramatic form in their attempts to build a historically informed national musical style for England. Examples include those by Arthur Sullivan , George Macfarren , and even Edward Elgar , whose imperialistic The Crown of India

1288-536: The intermezzo) was the single most important outside operatic influence in Paris in the mid-18th century, and helped create an entire new repertory of opera in France (see opéra comique ). The word was used (with a hint of irony) as the title of Richard Strauss 's two-act opera, Intermezzo (1924), the scale of which far exceeds the intermezzo of tradition. Many of the most celebrated intermezzi are from operas of

1334-520: The latter part of the 17th century, a form in which John Dryden and Henry Purcell collaborated, borrows some elements from the masque and further elements from the contemporary courtly French opera of Jean-Baptiste Lully . In the 18th century, masques were even less frequently staged. " Rule, Britannia! " started out as part of Alfred , a masque about Alfred the Great co-written by James Thomson and David Mallet with music by Thomas Arne which

1380-452: The masque at their court became more significant. Plots were often on classical or allegorical themes, glorifying the royal or noble sponsor. At the end, the audience would join with the actors in a final dance. Ben Jonson wrote a number of masques with stage design by Inigo Jones . Their works are usually thought of as the most significant in the form. Samuel Daniel and Sir Philip Sidney also wrote masques. William Shakespeare included

1426-450: The masque. During the late 17th century, English semi-operas by composers such as Henry Purcell had masque scenes inset between the acts of the play proper. In the 18th century, William Boyce and Thomas Arne , continued to utilize the masque genre mostly as an occasional piece, and the genre became increasingly associated with patriotic topics. Acis and Galatea (Handel) is another successful example. There are isolated examples throughout

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1472-501: The new fashion of Italian-style masque at the English court in 1512. The essential feature was the entry of disguised dancers and musicians to a banquet. They would appear in character and perform, and then dance with the guests, and then leave the venue. According to George Cavendish , Henry VIII came to Cardinal Wolsey's Hampton Court , by boat "in a masque with a dozen of other maskers all in garments like shepherds made of fine cloth of gold and fine crimson satin paned, and caps of

1518-665: The period is Pergolesi 's La serva padrona , which was an opera buffa that after the death of Pergolesi kicked off the Querelle des Bouffons . In some cases the intermezzo repertory spread more quickly than did the opera seria itself; the singers were often renowned, the comic effects were popular, and intermezzi were relatively easy to produce and stage. In the 1730s the style spread around Europe, and some cities—for example Moscow—recorded visits and performances by troupes performing intermezzi years before any actual opera seria were done. The intermède (the French equivalent of

1564-431: The piano intermezzi by Brahms, some of his last compositions, are sets of independent character pieces not intended to connect anything else together. Stylistically, intermezzi of the 19th century are usually lyrical and melodic, especially compared to the movements on either side, when they occur in larger works. The Brahms piano intermezzi in particular have an extremely wide emotional range, and are often considered some of

1610-501: The respective plays. Schumann combined intermezzi in several of his works featuring piano, including the Piano Concerto Op. 54. Carnaval Op. 9 and intermezzi Op. 4 In the 20th century, the term was used occasionally. Shostakovich named one movement of his dark String Quartet No. 15 "intermezzo"; Bartók used the term for the fourth movement (of five) of his Concerto for Orchestra . Masque The masque

1656-429: The same with visors", wearing false beards, accompanied with torch bearers and drummers. Their arrival at the palace water gate was announced by cannon fire. Edward Hall described similar masques involving the king's disguised appearance. In the play Henry VIII , by Fletcher and Shakespeare , the masque was recalled when Henry in shepherd's disguise meets Anne Boleyn . Masques at Elizabeth I 's court emphasized

1702-496: The tailor with all his strength buttoned on my doublet ". Reconstructions of Stuart masques have been few and far between. Part of the problem is that only texts survive complete; there is no complete music, only fragments, so no authoritative performance can be made without interpretive invention. By the time of the English Restoration in 1660, the masque was passé, but the English semi-opera which developed in

1748-509: The tone of the bigger opera around them, and often they used one or more of the stock characters from the opera or from the commedia dell'arte . In this they were the reverse of the Renaissance intermezzo, which usually had a mythological or pastoral subject as a contrast to a main comic play. Often they were of a burlesque nature, and characterized by slapstick comedy, disguises, dialect, and ribaldry. The most famous of all intermezzi from

1794-461: The verismo period: Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana and L'amico Fritz , Leoncavallo's Pagliacci , Puccini's Manon Lescaut and Suor Angelica , Giordano's Fedora , Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur , and especially that from Massenet's Thais , which became known as the Méditation . In the 19th century, the intermezzo acquired another meaning: an instrumental piece which was either

1840-478: Was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy , in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant ). A masque involved music, dancing, singing and acting, within an elaborate stage design , in which the architectural framing and costumes might be designed by a renowned architect, to present

1886-492: Was first performed at Cliveden , country house of Frederick, Prince of Wales . Performed to celebrate the third birthday of Frederick's daughter Augusta , it remains among the best-known British patriotic songs up to the present, while the masque of which it was originally part is remembered by only specialist historians. The most outstanding humanists , poets and artists of the day, in the full intensity of their creative powers, devoted themselves to producing masques; and until

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1932-424: Was frequently a specially recorded entr'acte on the soundtrack between the first and second half of the film, although this practice eventually died out. Originally entr'actes resulted from stage curtains being closed for set or costume changes: to fill time as not to halt the dramatic action, to make a transition from the mood of one act to the next, or to prevent the public from becoming restless. In front of

1978-424: Was in her way. Francis Bacon paid for The Masque of Flowers to celebrate the marriage of Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset and Frances Howard, Countess of Somerset . James Hay, 1st Earl of Carlisle , was a performer and sponsor of court masques. He wrote about the tight-fitting costumes, that it was the fashion "to appear very small in the waist, I remember was drawn up from the ground by both hands whilst

2024-484: Was probably first presented before the Archbishop of Canterbury , perhaps at his London seat, Lambeth Palace , in 1592. Entr%27acte Entr'acte (or entracte , French pronunciation: [ɑ̃tʁakt] ; German : Zwischenspiel and Zwischenakt , Italian : intermezzo , Spanish : intermedio and intervalo ) means 'between the acts'. It can mean a pause between two parts of

2070-400: Was said she wore male costume for the masque, "which apparel she loved often times to be in, in dancings secretly with the King her husband, and going in masks by night through the streets". James VI and Anne of Denmark wore masque costumes to dance at weddings at Alloa Tower and Tullibardine Castle . After James and Anne became king and queen of England too, narrative elements of

2116-565: Was the central feature at the London Coliseum in 2005. Masques also became common as scenes in operettas and musical theatre works set during the Elizabethan period. In the 20th century, Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote several masques, including his masterpiece in the genre, Job, a masque for dancing which premiered in 1930, although the work is closer to a ballet than a masque as it was originally understood. His designating it

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