Interlude is an episode, performance, play or scene. Such an interpretation of this term is given in the Dictionary of Russian Synonyms. For a more accurate analysis of this issue, we will analyze the definition from other sources.
Explanatory Dictionary of Ephraim
This source gives two interpretations of the term that interests us. According to the first, interlude is a small-sized piece of music that is performed at intervals between the parts of a particular piece of music.
Now we turn to the following interpretation. According to him, we are talking about a small play of a religious, moral, and later farcical character. This phenomenon is characteristic of the English theater at sunset of the Middle Ages, as well as at the dawn of the Renaissance.
Great Encyclopedic Dictionary
We continue to understand what interlude is. Let us turn to the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary for help. This source indicates that the term comes from two Latin words “between”, as well as “game”. In theatrical art is synonymous with sideshow. In music, we are talking about a small play or a connecting structure performed between the main parts of a particular work.
Other sources
Now we turn to the Small Academic Dictionary for help. According to this source, we are talking about a small play or passage, which serves as a link between other parts of the work. The publication of foreign words says that interlude is a small piece of music that is performed during breaks of a more extensive work. Also, this term can define the organ play between the individual stanzas of the chorale.
According to Kuznetsov’s Explanatory Dictionary, interlude is an excerpt from a piece of music that acts as a link between a pair of other parts of a play. Refer to the next source.
According to Ushakov’s Explanatory Dictionary, this is a small piece of music. A further definition is similar to the above.
Consider another publication. According to Fasmer’s Etymological Dictionary, it is a comic scene that plays out during intermission.
Now we turn to the "Great Soviet Encyclopedia". This source clarifies that such musical works can be performed both between acts of drama and opera. Interlude can be an improvisation performed on an organ. Also, in a certain meaning, it can occur under the term intermezzo.