W. A. Mozart – Piano sonata n. 11 KV 331 - Alla turca, allegretto  (1783)
 
The third movement of Mozart’s piano sonata n. 11 – know as “Alla turca”, “Rondo alla turca” or Turkish march” – is one of me most famous and iconic piano pieces ever written. Composed in 1783, following the success of the Serraglio which Mozart composed and directed the year before, the third movement of the sonata is again a tribute to the Turkish fashion, or turquerie, that was broadly diffused in 18th century’s Western Europe, leading to a wide adoption of Ottoman culture elements in arts, fashion, architecture, artifacts and, as in this case, music. In the sonata n. 11 Mozart recalls on the piano keyboard the exotic and mysterious sonorities of Ottoman military marches, with inventive technical expedients to mimic their typical snare drums, tambourines and bells.