Henri Desmarets

Divertissement is a French Baroque theatrical-music genre denoting a self-contained sequence of light, spectacular numbers—dances, choruses, instrumental interludes, and short vocal airs—inserted within larger stage works. It emerged at the court of Louis XIV and was codified in French tragédie en musique and comédie-ballet, where it often furnished the act endings or festive scenes, emphasizing spectacle, dance rhythms, and clear, elegant vocal writing. Stylistically, divertissements draw on court dance types (minuet, gavotte, bourrée, chaconne, passacaille), five-part French string writing, woodwinds (oboes, bassoons), and continuo, with characteristic French agréments (ornaments) and notes inégales. The mood is celebratory, pastoral, or allegorical rather than dramatically conflicted.