divertimento

[ dih-vur-tuh-men-toh; Italian dee-ver-tee-men-taw ]

noun

, Music.

, plural di·ver·ti·men·tos, di·ver·ti·men·ti [dih-vur-t, uh, -, men, -tee, dee-ve, r, -tee-, men, -tee].

1. an instrumental composition in several movements, light and diverting in character, similar to a serenade.

divertimento

/ dɪˌvɜːtɪˈmɛntəʊ /

noun

1. a piece of entertaining music in several movements, often scored for a mixed ensemble and having no fixed form
2. an episode in a fugue

Word History and Origins

Origin of divertimento¹

1750–60; < Italian, equivalent to diverti ( re ) to divert + -mento -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of divertimento¹

C18: from Italian

Example Sentences

Like so many of the serenades and divertimentos that Mozart turned out to accompany Salzburg’s social events, it’s an unbridled joy.

From New York Times

Several movements from the divertimento from Stravinsky’s “The Fairy’s Kiss” featured Kutik in muscular passages and technical effects.

From Washington Post

Or that this rendition adds an improvised divertimento about border walls midway through the first act.

From New York Times

When he started writing his symphony, he thought it was going to be a divertimento of maybe 20 minutes.

From New York Times

Contrasting the divertimento character of everything in the first half, the group returned after intermission to essay one of Brahms’s greatest, and darkest, chamber works, the Piano Quartet Op.

From Washington Post