The Violin Concerto No. 5 in

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

, K. 219, often referred to by the nickname "Turkish", was written by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

in 1775, premiering during the Christmas season that year in Salzburg. It follows the typical fast–slow–fast musical structure.

Background

Mozart composed the majority of his

concerto A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The ...

s for string instruments from 1773 to 1779, but it is unknown for whom, or for what occasion, he wrote them. ISMN M-006-45361-0 Similarly, the dating of these works is unclear. Analysis of the handwriting, papers and watermarks has proved that all five

violin concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

s were re-dated several times. The year of composition of the fifth concerto "1775" was scratched out and replaced by "1780", and later changed again to "1775". Mozart would not use the key of

for a concerto again until the Piano Concerto No. 12, K. 414. The autograph score is preserved in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, Washington, D.C.

Structure

The concerto is scored for two

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double-reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common type of oboe, the soprano oboe pitched in C, ...

s, two

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

s in A (in E for Adagio), and strings. The

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

are as follows: : \relative c'' The ''aperto'' marking on the first movement is rare in Mozart's instrumental music (two of his piano concerti, Piano Concerto No. 6 in B major and Piano Concerto No. 8 in C major, have this marking, as does his Oboe Concerto in C major), but appears much more frequently in his operas. It implies that the piece should be played in a broader, more majestic way than might be indicated simply by ''allegro''. The first movement opens with the orchestra playing the main

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

, a typical Mozartian tune. The solo violin comes in with a short but sweet dolce ''adagio'' passage in A major with a simple

accompaniment Accompaniment is the musical part which provides the rhythmic and/or harmonic support for the melody or main themes of a song or instrumental piece. There are many different styles and types of accompaniment in different genres and styles of m ...

by the orchestra. (This is the only instance in Mozart's concerto repertoire in which an ''adagio'' interlude of this sort occurs at the first soloist entry of the concerto.) It then transitions back to the main theme with the solo violin playing a different melody on top of the orchestra. The first movement is 10–11 minutes long. The

rondo The rondo or rondeau is a musical form that contains a principal theme (music), theme (sometimes called the "refrain") which alternates with one or more contrasting themes (generally called "episodes", but also referred to as "digressions" or "c ...

finale is based on a

minuet A minuet (; also spelled menuet) is a social dance of French origin for two people, usually written in time. The English word was adapted from the Italian ''minuetto'' and the French ''menuet''. The term also describes the musical form tha ...

theme which recurs several times. In the middle of the movement the meter changes from to and a section of "

Turkish music The roots of traditional music in Turkey span across centuries to a time when the Seljuk Turks migrated to Anatolia and Persia in the 11th century and contains elements of both Turkic and pre-Turkic influences. Much of its modern popular music ...

" is played. This is characterised by the shift to A minor (from the original A major), and by the use of grotesque elements, such as unison chromatic

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

s, repetition of very short musical elements and

col legno In music for bowed string instruments, , or more precisely ; ), is an instruction to strike the string with the stick of the bow across the strings. History The earliest known use of in Western music is to be found in a piece entitled "Hark ...

playing in the cellos and double basses. This section gave the concerto the nickname "The Turkish Concerto". The famous Rondo alla Turca from Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 in A major features the same key and similar elements. Mozart later composed the Adagio in E major for Violin and Orchestra, K. 261, as a substitute slow movement for this concerto. A typical performance lasts about 28 minutes long.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 5 1775 compositions Compositions in A major