Mozart - Rondo alla turca (turkish march)

1738 by Wofgang Amadeus Mozart

The last movement, "Alla turca", popularly known as the "Turkish March", is often heard on its own and is one of Mozart's best-known piano pieces. Mozart himself titled the rondo "Alla turca". It imitates the sound of Turkish Janissary bands, the music of which was much in vogue at that time. Various other works of the time imitate this Turkish style, including Mozart's own opera "Die Entführung aus dem Serail". In Mozart's time, the last movement was sometimes performed on pianos built with a "Turkish stop", allowing it to be embellished with extra percussion effects.