In music, an '''intermezzo''' (pl. intermezzi), 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.

==Renaissance intermezzo==
The Renaissance intermezzo was also called the intermedio and is dealt with at that article. 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.

==Opera intermezzo==
The intermezzo, in the 18th century, was a comic operatic interlude inserted between acts or scenes of an ''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 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 ''opera comique'').

The word was used (with a hint of irony) as the title of Intermezzo'' (1924), the scale of which far exceeds the intermezzo of tradition.

==Instrumental intermezzo==

thumb|350px|Dipinto del [[XVIII secolo raffigurante una scena di un intermezzo comico a right

In musica, per '''intermezzo''' s'intende generalmente una composizione posta tra altre entità musicali o drammatiche, come ad esempio gli atti di una commedia o i movimenti di un lungo lavoro strumentale.

Nella storia della musica questo termine ha avuto significati differenti. Si distinguono in particolare il genere operistico settecentesco dell'intermezzo, l'intermezzo sinfonico che separa gli atti delle opere e l'intermezzo strumentale.

== Il genere operistico ==
Nel opere serie italiane.

Queste brevi opere potevano essere in un atto o occupare entrambi gli intervalli (dato che l'opera seria era normalmente costituita da tre atti). Talvolta uno stesso intermezzo poteva essere inserito in opere diverse. I personaggi erano spesso dei tipi tratti dal repertorio della commedia dell'arte. 

Gli intermezzi buffi ebbero spesso maggior fortuna delle opere che li ospitavano, grazie alla loro comicità e brevità, nonché ai modesti costi di allestimento. Negli anni trenta del Settecento questo genere si diffuse in tutta l'Mosca, gli intermezzi furono rappresentati parecchi anni prima delle opere serie a cui si abbinavano.