Bergamask

Bergamesca ('The Buffens'), Straloch MS., c. 1600  Play .

Bergamesca variant, MS. Lute Book, c. 1600  Play .

Bergamask, bergomask, bergamesca, or bergamasca (from the town of Bergamo in Northern Italy), is dance and associated melody and chord progression. It was considered a clumsy rustic dance (cf. Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, v. 360) copied from the natives of Bergamo, reputed to be very awkward in their manners.

The dance is associated with clowns or buffoonery, as is the area of Bergamo, it having lent its dialect to the Italian buffoons.

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See also

• Moresca
• Romanesca

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.