Afterpiece
Sign in to saveAn afterpiece (or postlude, German term Nachspiel is also used in English texts) is a short, usually humorous one-act playlet or musical work following the main attraction (the full-length play or music piece) and concluding the theatrical evening or religious service. In terms of content, there was usually no connection to the main performance. A similar theatrical piece preceding the main attraction is a curtain raiser.
~4 min read
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Music
- European theatre
- Variants
- Postludes as part of dramas
- Notes
- Bibliography
An afterpiece (or postlude, German term Nachspiel is also used in English texts) is a short, usually humorous one-act playlet or musical work following the main attraction (the full-length play or music piece) and concluding the theatrical evening or religious service. In terms of content, there was usually no connection to the main performance. A similar theatrical piece preceding the main attraction is a curtain raiser.
== Music == In church music, a postlude is an outgoing voluntary, the term adopted from Latin-German Postludium (from , "behind, after" + ludus, "play", from ludere, "to play"). The Dictionary of Music and Musicians notes Henry Smart, Joseph André, and Christian Heinrich Rinck occasionally employing it.