The mood of the divertimento is most often lighthearted (as a result of being played at social functions) and it is generally composed for a small ensemble.
The term is used to describe a wide variety of secular (non-religious) instrumental works for soloist or chamber ensemble.
As a separate genre, it appears to have no specific form, although most of the divertimenti of the second half of the 18th century go either back to a dance suite approach (derived from the 'ballet' type of theatrical divertimento), or take the form of other chamber music genres of their century (as a continuation of the merely instrumental theatrical divertimento).
Several examples exist from the 20th century, including works by Alfred Reed, Nikolai Medtner, Ferruccio Busoni, Vincent Persichetti, Charles Wuorinen, Sergei Prokofiev, Béla Bartók, Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, Paul Graener, Gordon Jacob, Lennox Berkeley, Gareth Walters, Malcolm Arnold, Lars-Erik Larsson, Saint-Preux, Bohuslav Martinů and Joe Hisaishi.
Robert Davine also composed a Divertimento for Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon and Accordion for chamber music ensemble.