Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Classical Music - 7 September 2014

Catherine Bott asks, 'What is an intermezzo?'

The Intermezzo from Mascagni’s one-act opera Cavalleria Rusticana is one of the most popular of all orchestral pieces – but what, exactly, is an intermezzo?  And how does it differ from an entr'acte or an interlude?  

This week, Catherine Bott explores fascinating and beautiful music to illustrate her questions, including Schubert’s incidental music to Rosamunde and Britten’s Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes – as well as music by Brahms, Puccini, Delius, Richard Strauss, and an ‘interrupted intermezzo’ from Bartók.