Online Encyclopedia
Bergamo
Bergamo is a town in Italy, in Lombardy, about 40km northeast of Milan. It is home to Orio al Serio International Airport, which serves Milan, Italy's low-cost market. The foothills of the Alps begin immediately north of the town.
- Commune: 39.60 km2, 113,143 inh.
- Province: 2,723 km2, 973,129 inh., 244 communes
History
Bergamo occupies the site of the ancient town of Bergomum, which was a Roman municipality. It was destroyed by Attila in the 5th century. Between 1264 and 1428 the town was ruled by Milan, but passed to Venetian control until 1797; the Venetians fortified the higher portion of the town.
Bergamo has a prominent place in music history. The large Romanesque church of S Maria Maggiore, begun in 1137, had a continuous and well-documented tradition of music teaching and singing for more than eight hundred years. Since the town was under Venetian control, the musical style of the Venetians was imported as well; in particular, a large instrumental ensemble grew up to support the choral singing. Composers such as Gasparo Alberti produced polychoral music with two organs, brass and viols, a style usually associated with Venice, but which flourished in the fine acoustical environment of S Maria Maggiore.
Prominent musicians born in Bergamo include Gaetano Donizetti, Pietro Locatelli, and Antonio Lolli . Alessandro Grandi, one of the most progressive composers of the early 17th century after Monteverdi, was maestro di cappella there until his death in the plague of 1630; Tarquinio Merula , and even more progressive composer, and one of the founders of the early sonata, took over his post.
Miscellaneous
The town hosted the seventh Congres Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne in 1951.