A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Interlude
INTERLUDE (Germ. Zwischenspiel). A short Voluntary, played, by English Organists of the older School, between the verses of a Hymn, or Metrical Psalm.
Fifty, or even thirty years ago, a good extempore Interlude was regarded as no unfair test of an Organist's ability. The late Mr. Thomas Adams had a peculiar talent for Voluntaries of this kind: and, at S. Peter's, Walworth, John Purkis charmed his hearers, at about the same period, with delightful little effusions which were frequently far more interesting than the Hymns between the verses of which they were interpolated. Of late years, however, the Interlude has fallen so much into disuse that it is doubtful whether a good one is now to be heard in any Church in England.
In French Cathedrals, a long and elaborate Interlude is usually played, at Vespers, between the verses of the Magnificat, as well as those of the Hymn: and, at Notre Dame de Paris, S. Sulpice, and other Churches built on the same grand scale, where the Organ in the Choir is supplemented by a larger one at the western end of the Nave, a fine effect is sometimes produced by the alternate use of the two instruments; the smaller one being employed for the accompaniment of the voices, while the larger is reserved for the Interludes alone.
Interludes are played, in Germany, not between the verses of the Choral, but between the separate lines of each verse—an arrangement, which, however effective it may be in the hands of an accomplished Organist, is generally very much the reverse in those of a tyro. (Good examples are to be found in Ch. H. Rink's 'XXIV Choräle,' op. 64, 1804.) The delicious orchestral Interludes which embellish the Choral, 'Cast thy burthen upon the Lord,' in Mendelssohn's 'Elijah,' and those on a more extended scale in 'Nun danket' in the 'Lobgesang,' were evidently suggested by this old German custom; while the grand crash of brass instruments, introduced between the lines of 'Sleepers, wake!' in the same composer's 'S. Paul,' illustrates, perhaps, the most striking effect which it has yet been made to produce. [See Chorale.]
For an explanation of the word Interlude, in its dramatic sense, see Intermezzo.[ W. S. R. ]