rigaudon

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rigaudon (Fr.), rigadoon (Old Eng.). Ancient Provençal type of dance, in simple duple or quadruple time, similar to the bourrée. Rameau used the rigaudon in nearly all his operas and there are 2 in Fux's Concentus musicus (1701). It occurs in suites by Couperin, Lalande, Telemann, Muffat, and others. Also used by Grieg in Holberg Suite (1884), Saint-Saëns, MacDowell, and by Ravel in Le Tombeau de Couperin.

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