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. 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. 'in the middle', either a short concert piece to be performed between two major works or an instrumental piece in an opera.
Short, lyric piece or movement, often for piano Also a comic interlude performed between acts of an eighteenth-century opera seria. 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.
Two meanings: A short comic opera, usually with just two or three characters and lasting less than a half hour. a short movement coming between the major sections of a symphony. a short piece of instrumental music composed for performance between acts of a drama or opera. a brief show performed between the sections of another performance.