In music, an intermezzo (Italian pronunciation: [ˌinterˈmɛddzo]), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term has had several different usages, which fit into two general categories: the opera intermezzo and the instrumental intermezzo.
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.
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 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 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.
Intermezzo (also called Intermezzo: A Love Story) (1939) is a romantic film made in the USA by Selznick International Pictures and nominated for two Academy Awards. It was directed by Gregory Ratoff and produced by David O. Selznick. It is a remake of the Swedish film Intermezzo (1936) and features multiple orchestrations of the Heinz Provost's piece of the same name, which won a contest associated with the original film's production. The screenplay by George O'Neil was based on the screenplay of the original film by Gösta Stevens and Gustaf Molander. The scoring by Lou Forbes was nominated for an Academy Award, and music credit was given to Robert Russell Bennett, Max Steiner, Heinz Provost, and Christian Sinding. The cinematography by Gregg Toland who replaced Harry Stradling was also nominated for an Academy Award.
It stars Leslie Howard as a (married) virtuoso violinist who falls in love with his accompanist, played by Ingrid Bergman in her Hollywood debut.
Intermezzo is a musical term.
It may also refer to:
Wadd (Arabic: ود) was the Minaean moon-god. Snakes were associated with him. An altar dedicated to him was erected by Minaeans living on the Greek island of Delos. The altar contains two inscriptions, one of which is in Minaean language and the other in Greek. Minaean inscription on the altar begins with symobols of three Minaean god one of which is of Wadd whose symbol is a snake. The Minaean text text on the altar reads, "Hāni' and Zayd'il [of the lineage] of Hab erected the altar of Wadd and of the deities of Ma'in at Delos." The Greek inscription reads, "[Property] of Oaddos, god of the Minaeans. To Oaddos." He was also worshipped by Minaean colonists in Dedan (modern-day Al-`Ula) during the Lihyanite rule. A temple of Wadd evidently existed in Dedan. There is evidence from Minaean inscriptions of the presence of Levites in the temple of Wadd who according to some scholars were either as priests or cult servants who could later be promoted to higher positions.
The Banu Kalb tribe worshipped Wadd in the form of a man and is said to have represented heaven.
Amm or AMM may refer to:
Amm was a moon god worshipped in ancient Qataban, in what is now south Arabia. The inhabitants of the kingdom referred to themselves as the Banu Amm, or the "Children of Amm". He was also revered as a weather god, as his attributes included lightning bolts. His consort is the goddess Asherah.