Turkish march : scherzo : from the Ruins of Athens
Scherzo · in B♭ major
Ludwig van Beethoven 1770–1827
B♭ major
Key
Scherzo
Form
Vivace
Tempo
Score
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Themes & character
Alla turca·Janissary color·Long crescendo·Theatrical wit
At a glance
- Key
- B♭ major
- Tempo / character
- Vivace
- Form
- Scherzo
About the piece
Beethoven's Turkish March, drawn from his incidental music to August von Kotzebue's play The Ruins of Athens, written in 1811 for the opening of a new theatre in Pest. It is cast in the "alla turca" manner then fashionable in Vienna, imitating the percussive sound of a Janissary band with its insistent drum and cymbal figures.
The piano arrangement, the form in which most people know the piece today, keeps the theatrical build of the original. The march begins as if from a great distance, almost inaudible, then grows step by step to a full, clanging climax before receding again into silence. That long swell and fade is the whole charm of the piece.
The composer
Ludwig van Beethoven
1770–1827
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer, conductor, and pianist. Regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music, he was mentored during the Classical period, and his musical style was a key driver of the transition to Romantic music, and the expansion of instrumental forms such as the symphony, the piano sonata and the string quartet. His compositions have attracted extraordinary casual and scholarly interest, and remain among the most performed in the world.
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