How did the Turkish obsession influence European composers’ musical choices?
The Turkish military band, or mehter, was originally used in the Ottoman Empire’s special military force, the janissaries. First appearing in Europe in 17th-century Polish and Russian courts, the mehter introduced a sound that was heavy on drums, cymbals, and horns. European composers sought to imitate the percussive and shrill qualities of mehter music, giving rise to what is sometimes referred to as the alla turca style. Alla turca music included a march-like rhythm, dynamic contrasts, simple harmonies, and novel percussion instruments (tambourine, triangle, cymbals), with piccolos evoking the shrill Turkish horns. Keys of F, B-flat, D, and C were common in alla turca music, being the easiest keys for the wind instruments to play. How does Mozart imitate Turkish music in The Abduction from the Seraglio? Mozart chose the more alla turca key of C major; a full third of the opera is written in C major. Repeated rhythmic note patterns and sudden switches from a quiet dynamic to a more mi
