Which term describes music in an opera that characters supposedly cannot hear they are singing?

• A. Diegetic music
• B. Non-diegetic music
• C. Instrumental interludes
• D. Recitative

Answer: (B)

Non-diegetic music describes music that exists for the audience’s experience rather than as part of the characters’ world. In opera, this is the soundtrack-like underscoring or mood music that the characters themselves don’t react to as if it were happening in their reality. It’s there to shape emotion and interpretation for us, not to be something the on-stage world hears or acknowledges. Diegetic music, by contrast, is music that is part of the story world—things the characters can hear and respond to, like someone playing an instrument on stage or a song performed within the scene. Instrumental interludes aren’t a label about who hears the music, and recitative is a vocal style used to advance the plot, not about the hearing relationship. Therefore, the term that fits the description is non-diegetic.