Here's a musical interlude from the genius of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Turkish March (Rondo Alla Turca) hails from his Piano Sonata No. 11 first published in 1784.
You'll know it the moment you hear it. The piece is the third movement from the sonata, but it's used regularly in popular culture and remains an ever-endearing, upbeat little masterpiece.
Energetic, Melodic, and Mischievous—Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca
Mozart was around 27 when he composed this piece. He was living in Vienna with his family and, at the time, Turkish Janissary bands were popular.
The result? He penned a simple, accessible melody. But it's instantly memorable and imprints itself on your brain. You can compare this with Chopin's pieces from around 100 years later, with the Polish composer often choosing a much more melancholic tone. Stuff like this.
Yet Mozart is pretty ecstatic across a lot of his music. We're going to do a piece on surviving written records of his personality next week, which attest he was a lively, generous, and fun type of bloke.
Not that he couldn't do more profound music (see the magnificent Serenade for Winds... link aside, we've added it below), highlighting the incredible breadth of his musical talent, but he also did fun very well.
As we'll cover next week, we suggest this was a very intelligent man capable of balancing a wide range of emotional, cultural, and psychological nuances across his life (and music).
Yet whilst his music continues to delight, Mozart's penchant for scatological humour continues to embarrass. Margaret Thatcher being one of the offended individuals in the 1980s, singularly refusing to accept he may have had a sense of humour. Although we'd suggest in her pomp and ceremony she was unwilling to look beyond the rather pretentious allure of classical music. As in, you have to be an intellectual to like it.
Charles Bukowski put paid to that in his revelry of the genre. Away from his beer guzzling lunacy and we do find the Turkish March a number that's quite brilliant.
Hundreds of years have passed since its publication, but it ties the human condition across different generations. In 1784 it was loved and in 2024 it's much the same.
Turkish March: Professional Notes on the Musical Bit
Conductor Jonathan Stark has provided quite a few handy notes on this piece in his Turkish March feature.
"The Turkish March by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is actually not a stand-alone piece, but the final movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11. This movement received its 'nickname' because Mozart imitates the Turkish military music of the time (the "Janissary music") by musical means. However, the authenticity of Mozart's imitation may be doubted – it is more likely that Mozart imitated a style that was understood as 'Turkish' in Vienna at the end of the 18th century. Janissary music was popular in Vienna at the time because of its special relationship with the Ottoman Empire (which had twice unsuccessfully besieged Vienna in 1529 and 1683). Other works by Mozart, for example the opera 'The Abduction from the Seraglio', also bear witness to this."
Stark writes of the Turkish March's lively energy, yet it's still open to interpretation. Although in most instances you'll see it played like this.
But it's also possible to arse around, in true Mozart fashion, with renditions like this.
That's Lang Lang, a hugely successful Chinese pianist. A great version, one that nods towards using this music for humour. Which you can see further in the likes of Pagagnini's violin virtuosos (YouTube it).
How to Play Mozart's Rondo Alla Turca
Last of all, there it is in action! The Turkish March with what's called top-d0wn perspective from the world of video games.
Pianists have an incredible skill, but we think of Stephen Malinowski on this. He's the one who performed the Chopin video further above and we've worked with him writing features about his work (Glorious Music Animations amongst others).
Yet, with his high intelligence, he's noted... making music is hard!
Piano playing we view as a kind of skill. Some people have incredible mastery of it. Yet to take that one step further and to create works that cross generations, have timeless appeal, are seen as masterpieces—that's where the overused term genius does kick in. Just in this instance very much appropriate.
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