Books › Harvard Dictionary Of Music(1950), 1950 › scan 97
Scan 97
Harvard Dictionary Of Music(1950), 1950
26 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1BERGAMASCA
3with an accompaniment reminiscent of the rocking of a cradle. The most famous example is Chopin's op. 57.
5Bergamasca. (1) In the 16th and 17th centuries a popular tune from the district of Bergamo in northern Italy whose peasant inhabitants were proverbial for their clumsiness and backwardness. Frescobaldi (Fiori musicali, 1635) used this melody as a theme of one of his most elaborate canzonas, adding the remark: "Chi questa Bergamasca sonará, non pocho imparerá" (He who plays this Bergamasca will learn a good deal). Jean-Baptiste Besard [cf. O. Chilesotti, in RMC i, 145] and Samuel Scheidt [cf. G. Harms, Scheidt's Werke, vol. 5] used its scheme of harmonies for continuous variations similar to a chaconne, except for the duple
7
9Bergamasca
11time. The same melody occurs, with slight modifications, in Salomone Rossi's "Varie Sonate . . ." (1623) and in Marco Uccellini's "Sonate, sinfonie, . . ." (1642). Two simple settings for the guitar are reproduced in WoHN ii, 166 and 188. Whether the somewhat similar melody "Kraut und Rüben haben mich vertrieben," which Bach uses in the final quodlibet of his Goldberg Variations [see Ex. under *Quodlibet] goes back to the old Italian melody, as has been frequently claimed, is uncertain. Cf. P. Nettl, in ZMW v; R. Lach, in Museion, 1920.
13(2) The 19th-century bergamasca is a quick dance in 6/8 time, much like the *tarantella. Alfredo Piatti (1822–1901), a native of Bergamo, wrote a Bergamasca for cello solo. Debussy's "Suite Bergamasque" is a free composition based upon impressions from the peasant life of Bergamo.
15Bergerette [F., from berger, shepherd]. (1) An 18th-century type of French lyric poetry with a pastoral or amorous subject. Cf. J.-B. Weckerlin, Bergerettes (Engl. ed. 1913).—(2) In the 15th century, bergerette denotes a fixed form of French poetry, similar in construction to the *virelai, but with one stanza only. Such bergerettes occur in the Kopenhagen Chasonnier [ed. by K. Jeppesen] and in the *Odhecaton. Cf. H. Hewitt, Harmonice Musices Odhecaton A (1942), pp. 49f. — (3) In the 16th century the name occurs as a title for instrumental dances in quick triple time, similar to the saltarello. Cf. RiML, 155.
17Berg(k)reyen [old German for Bergreigen, dance of a mountainous country]. Name of various 16th-century collections of songs from German mountainous countries (Silesia, Thuringia), composed in two or more parts, in simple note-against-note style (E. Rotenbucker, 1551; Melchior Franck, 1602). Therefore, "in Bergreyenweis" ("in the manner of a B.") is a 16th-century expression — slightly pejorative — for simple chordal style (*familiar style).
19Bergomaska. See *Bergamasca.
21Berkshire Festivals. See *Festivals.
23BERLIN SCHOOL
25Berlin School. Collective designation for a group of composers, also known as Norddeutsche Schule, who worked in Berlin during the second half of the 18th century. Most of them were connected with the court of Frederick the Great (1712–86) who, through his numerous flute sonatas and other compositions, contributed actively to the musical life of his residence. The most important members of the group were: J. J. Quantz (1697–1773; flute sonatas, etc.); Johann Gottlieb Graun (1702–71; symphonies, trio sonatas); Karl Heinrich Graun (1703–59; opera Montezuma, text by Frederick the Great [DdT 15] and oratorio Der Tod Jesu); Franz Benda (1706–86; violin sonatas, concertos); C. P. E. Bach (1714–88); Christoph Nichelmann (1717–62; songs, harpsichord sonatas); Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg (1718–95; songs; editor of Berlinische Oden und Lieder, 1756; numerous theoretical books); Johann Kirnberger (1721–83; songs, harpsichord pieces, theoretical books); and Johann Fr. Agricola (1720–74; songs).
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.