bergamasque

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bergamasque (Fr.), bergamasca (It.), bergomask (Eng.). Tune and chord sequence from Bergamo, It., found as ground bass in 16th and 17th cents. Also a peasant's dance from Bergamo. Composers have used the term with little significance, e.g. Debussy's Suite Bergamasque (1890, rev. 1905) for pf.