DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

486 i:ntei{,mezzo INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
performance in Paris, Oct. 4, 1746, was little
short of a failure : but when, August 1, 1752,
it was played between the acts of Lulli's ' Aois
et Galathee, ' it originated a feud between tlie
' ' ' Lullistcs and the Bouifonnistes, ' scarcely less
bitter than that which raged, at a later period,
between the rival followers of Gluck and Piccinni.
National vanity Ibrbade tire recognition of tlie
Italian style : national good taste forbade its
rejection. Rousseau, with characteristic impetuosity,
threw himself into the thick of the
fray ; fought desperately on the Italian side ;
declared French Opera impossible ; and stulti-
fied his ovni arguments by the immediate production
of a French Intermedc—the well-known
' Devin du Village.' Long after this, the con-
troversy raged, with unabated fury ; but, in
spite of the worst its enemies could do, ' La
' Serva Padrona exercised a salutary and lasting
effect upon French dramatic music—indeed,
upon dramatic music everywhere. In 1750 it
met with an enthusiastic reception in England.
Its success was as lasting as it was brilliant ;
and, even to our own day, it has kejjt its place
upon the stage, not between the acts of a serious
opera, but as an indepiendent piiece ; marking
the critical period at which the history of the
Intermezzo merges, permanently, into that of
the Opera Buffa, its legitimate heir. [See OpEE.i
BUFFA.]
The anomalous character of this sweeping
change became at once apparent. It was as
necessary as ever, that, on certain occasions, some
sort of entertainment should be given between
the acts of serious pieces. The Intermezzo having
so far outgi'own its original intention as to
be utterly useless for this purpose, something
else must needs be found to supply its place.
The dance was unanimously accepted as a substitute
; and soon became exceedingly popular.
Ami thus arose a new species of interlude, which
at no time, perhaps, attained a gTeater degree
of perfection, than under the ' Lumlcy Manage-
' ment at Her Majesty's Theatre, where, night
after night, a Ballet Divertissement, with Cerito,
or Carlotta Grisi, for its principal attraction, was
given between the acts of a grand opera.
Instrumental music is frei|uently played, in
Gemrany, after the manner of an Intermezzo.
The noble Entr'actes composed by Beethoven,
for Schiller's ' Egmont, ' by
Schubert for ' R' isa-
munde,' and by Mendelssohn, for Shakespeare's
'Midsummer Night's Dream,' are familiar to
every one. These, of course, can only be presented
in association with the great works they
were originally designed to illustrate.
II. The word is also used for a short movement,
serving as a connecting-link lictween the
larger divisions of a sonata, symphony, or other
great work, whether instrumental, or vocal ; as
in No. 4 of Schumann's ' Faschingsschwank
aus "Wien '
(op. 26). The beautiful Intermezzo
' which, under the name of Introduzione, ' lends
so charming a grace to Beethoven's ' ^Valdstein
Sonata' (op. 53) is said to be an afterthought,
in
inserted in place of the well-known ' Andante
' F (op. 35), which, after due consideration, the
great composer rejected, as too long for the
position he originally intended it to occupy.
The term is, howe\'er, used for larger movements
:—as by Jlendelssohn ibr the third movement
in his F minor PF. Quartet (op. 2), or for
the ' grand adagio ' which, under the name of
Nachruf, ' he specially composed in memory of
his friend Eitz, and inserted in his Quintet
(op. 18), in lieu of the previous Minuet (Letter,
Feb, 21, 1832) ; or for the Entr'acte expressive
of Hermia's search for Lysander in the ' Midsummer
Kight's Dream ' music. The second
movement of Goetz's Symphony, virtually a
Scherzo, is entitled Intermezzo. Schumann
and Brahms, again, have both used the word
to denote independent pieces of small dimen-
sions, the former in his Opus 4 — six pieces
usually consisting of a main theme and an
Alternativo ;
and the latter in his opp. 76, 117,
118, and 119, for PF. w. s. E.
INTERNATIOXAL MUSICAL SOCIETY
(Internationale Musikgesellschaft). This Society,
inaugurated in 1899 by Professor Oskar Fleischer
with the assistance of Dr. Max Seiffert and
others, has for its object a federation of the
musicians and musical connoisseurs of all
countries, for pur[)Oses of mutual information on
matters of research or on more current matters.
Its method is first of all to promote gi-oup-action
in the shape of local bodies (Ortsgruppen),
meeting for lecture, debate, or social and musical
intercourse ; secondly to combine these and
other units for administrative purposes in larger
sections (Sektionen) corresponding to nationalities
; and thirdly to federate the whole by
means of publications issued in four alternative
languages, or occasionally by General Congresses.
Of Local Groups (Ortsgruppen) there are already
organised about forty, each with its own
machinery. Two large Societies already exist-
ing, the Musical Association of Ctreat Britain,
and the Vereeniging voor Koord-Kederlands
Muziekgeschiedenis of HoUaml, have consented
to act under certain conditions as Ortsgi'uppen
of the Society, and are therefore 'allied societies'
(Kartell-Vereine). By the side of tliese Local
Groups there are very numerous separate
members (einfache Mitglieder), who have not
entered any of the groups. Of National Sections
(Sektionen), for administrative pnu'poses, there
are at present nineteen organised :—Austria,
Baden, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland,
France, Great Britain and Ireland, Holland,
India, Italy, North Germany, Russia, Saxony,
Sjiain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thuringia, United
States of .-Vmeriea. The Sectional administration
in the ease of Great Britain and Ireland is by
means of a body called the 'English Committee.'
The whole Society is controlled by a Governing