Rondo alla Turca is a fast piano piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Many people call it the Turkish March. It is the last movement of a piano sonata, and it lasts about three and a half minutes. Mozart wrote it to copy the sound of a Turkish military band, with its drums, cymbals, and bells.
Quick facts
- Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who lived from 1756 to 1791
- From: Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major, K. 331
- Written: about 1783
- Length: about 3 and a half minutes
- Played by: one piano
- The title: “alla turca” means “in the Turkish style”
Why Turkish?
For centuries, the armies of the Ottoman Empire marched with bands. These bands played shrill pipes, kettledrums, a deep bass drum, cymbals, and bells. People in Europe had heard these bands, and composers began to copy the sound.
By Mozart’s time, the Turkish style was a fashion in Vienna. Composers put drums, cymbals, and triangles into their operas and symphonies. Mozart wrote in the Turkish style in an opera and in a violin concerto too.
In this piece, he made one piano do the job of the whole band.
How a piano copies a band
- The drums. The left hand rolls its chords from bottom to top. Each roll sounds like a drum stroke with a rattle.
- The march. The left hand keeps a steady “one, two, one, two.”
- The pipes. The right hand plays fast, twisting notes high on the keyboard.
- The crash. In the loud parts, both hands play full chords.
Some pianos made in the early 1800s had an extra pedal for music like this. The pedal rang bells and struck a drum inside the piano.
Three ideas that take turns
| Idea | What it sounds like |
|---|---|
| The twisting tune | Soft and quick, in a minor key. This is how the piece begins. |
| The stomping march | Loud and proud, in a major key, with rolling chords in the left hand. It keeps coming back. |
| The running part | A stream of fast notes with no stops |
The twisting tune comes first. The march breaks in. The running part follows, and the march returns. Then the twisting tune comes back, and the march has the last word, with a grand ending.
Read major and minor explained.
Is it a march or a rondo?
It is a little of both. A rondo is a piece where one tune keeps coming back, with other tunes in between. A march is music for walking in step.
Beethoven wrote a piece called the Turkish March too. It is a different piece, for orchestra.
The rest of the sonata
The sonata has three movements. The first is a gentle tune with six variations. The second is a minuet. The Rondo alla Turca is the third, and pianists often play it alone.
In 2014, a librarian in Budapest found four pages of the sonata in Mozart’s own handwriting. Before that, only one page in his hand was known.
Read what is a sonata?
Things to do together
March and tiptoe. Tiptoe for the twisting tune. March with high knees for the stomping march.
Be the band. Give out a pot, a lid, and a set of keys. Play only in the loud march, and stop when it stops.
Count the returns. Hold up a finger each time the stomping march comes back.
Minor or major. Point down for the minor parts, and up for the major parts.
Roll a chord. At a piano, press three keys one after another, fast, from low to high. That is the drum roll.
Slow and fast. Find a slow recording and a fast one. Ask which one sounds more like a march.
Questions to ask
- Which part sounds most like a band?
- How does the left hand sound like a drum?
- Does the piece end in the same mood it began in?
- Would you march or dance to this?
Words to know
- Rondo: a piece where one tune keeps returning
- Alla turca: in the Turkish style
- Sonata: a piece in several movements for one or two instruments
- Minor and major: dark-sounding and bright-sounding keys
Print and play
Use a listening journal page to draw the three ideas. Set a marching speed on the metronome for kids. Read Mozart for kids and the guide to Eine kleine Nachtmusik.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.