Turkish delight (Turkish march - Rondo a la turca)
Original Title
Turkish march from Die Ruinen von Athen op.113 / Alla turca from Piano sonata no.11 in A major, K331 (300i)
Composer
Beethoven, Ludwig van / Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
Year
1811
Editor
Arranger
Martinet, Leigh
Year Arranged
1994
Original Instrumentation
Full orchestra / Piano
Type of Arrangement
2
Availability
1
Publisher
Baltimore Horn Club
Year Published
1994
Catalogue Number
BHC.59
Sheet Music Format
A4, Score (6) & parts (4x2=8)
Horns
4
Additional Equipment
Others
Other Instruments
Difficulty
2
Duration
4
Structure / Movements
One movement.
Allegretto
Clefs
Treble, bass
Meters
2/4
Key signatures
3b, None
Range
Horn 1: bb - g2
Horn 2: g - g2
Horn 3: c - g2
Horn 4: G - c2
Creator's Comments
Performance Notes
Turkish delight is a combination of two pieces: Beethoven’s Turkish march from The ruins of Athens (Die Ruinen von Athen) (1811) and Mozart’s Alla turca from the Piano sonata no.11 in A major K331 (300i) (1783). There is not much a transition between the two, as they are just attached to each other, unified by the same key. There is no need to describe the two works, as they are among the most famous (and recognisable) classical pieces.
Both keys have been modified to match, the Beethoven from an original E flat major, and the Mozart from a minor. Martinet’s middle ground is A flat major / F minor (E flat major / C minor in horn pitch), which doesn’t match either of the original keys, but works very well in terms of key signatures and range. The parts are distributed evenly, except for tessitura, with extended leading parts especially in the Mozart.
The difficulty stems from the major section in the Mozart, with the counter-melody runs hard to play at the right speed. The grace notes in the Beethoven are the other element that influences the high rating. One thing is for sure: if this comes up in the concert, almost everybody will have heard the tune before.