Encore alla turca (On the "Turkish March" from the Sonata in A major, K. 331, by W.A.Mozart)

a) For Nonet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, two violins, viola cello and piano)
b) For Decet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, two violins, viola cello and piano)


Commentary
Recordings
Videos
Download score

Commentary

The usual symphonic working periods of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain were complemented by a chamber music activity whose greatest exponent took place annually between 2007 and 2017, during the first fortnight of each September, a chamber music working period held in the Prieuré Le Mesnil St Martin (Montaut de Villeréal, France), a dream place located in the countryside of the Aquitaine region, ideal for its tranquility and its size for a select group of a maximum of nine performers - those who allowed the facilities- developed for about 10 days a high-level chamber work, in the best circumstances of tranquility and motivation.

The usually varied selection of instrumentalists to carry out this activity sometimes made it difficult to find a suitable repertoire. In September 2014, the group was made up of a nonet made up of a woodwind quartet (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon), a string quartet and a piano, in order to perform the three works programmed for that occasion: the Octet of Nikos Skalkottas (for double woodwind-string quartet); the Quartet No. 16 in F Major op. 135 by Beethoven; and the Quintet op. 8 for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and piano, by Albéric Magnard.

In order to be able to offer an encore at the end of the concert in which the complete nonet was involved, and as I had done in previous editions and continued to do in later ones of those chamber music working periods, I had fun doing it this time with a rather crazy and irreverent arrangement of the famous Turkish March with which the Sonata in A major K. 331 by W. A. Mozart concludes, in which the rigorous continuity of the original piece was "commented" and varied harmonically and tonally, and even inserted in it some references to other works by Mozart, especially those based on "Turkish music".

Composed simultaneously for nonet and for two pianos, and dedicated to Emmanuel Ferrer and Stanley Hanks, heads of the institution, Encore alla turca was premiered as an encore of the concert by the JONDE chamber group held in the Chapel of the Prieure le Mesnil St Martin on September 13, 2014, performed by Albina Ibraeva (flute), Juan Carlos Rivas (oboe), Miquel Ramos (clarinet), Sara Galán (bassoon), Inés Montero and Pablo Quintanilla (violins), Samuel Espinosa (viola), Salvador Bolón (violoncello) and Julio García Vico (piano).

In 2017, to facilitate the encore of the group of 10 musicians who starred in the chamber music working period of that year, I added a horn part to the Encore alla turca, the new version of which was premiered on September 16 of that year in the Chapel of the Prieuré Le Mesnil St Martin.

The version for two pianos was premiered on September 11, 2021 by Isabel Puente and Duncan Gifford in the Green Hall of the Teatros del Canal in Madrid, within the COMA'21 Festival of the Madrid Composers Association.

Recordings

1. Original version (nonet).
Premiere recording (Chapel of the Prieuré Le Mesnil St Martin, September 13, 2014):



Chamber group of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain:
Albina Ibraeva, flute
Juan Carlos Rivas, oboe
Miquel Ramos, clarinet
Sara Galán, bassoon
Inés Montero, violin I
Pablo Quintanilla, violn II
Samuel Espinosa, viola
Salvador Bolón, cello
Julio García Vico, piano


2. Versión for ten instruments.
Premiere recording (Chapel of the Prieuré Le Mesnil St Martin, September 16, 2017):



Chamber group of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain:
Iria Castro, flute
Clara Espinosa, oboe
Claudia Camarasa, clarinet
Rodrigo Ortiz, horn
Marta Álvarez, bassoon
Lourdes Alonso, violin I
Innés Romaguera, violin II
Pablo José Salvá, viola
Alejandro Olóriz, cello
Pablo García Vico, piano

Videos

I. Versión for nonet Videoclip con images of the JONDE chamber music working period (Prieuré Le mesnil St Martin-Madrid, September 5-17, 2014)

I. Video of the premiere of the version for two pianos Isabel Puente and Duncan Gifford (COMA'21 Festival. Green Hall of the Teatros del Canal. Madrid, September 11, 2021)

III. COMA'2022 Festival of the Madrid Composers Association Concert-Homage to José Luis Turina in his 70º aniversary Laura Sánchez and Cristina Lucio-Villegas (Duo Scarbó) Manuel de Falla Hall of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Madrid, November 4, 2022

Download pdfs

(Scores and parts without watermarks available at www.asesores-musicales.com )

Original version for nonet (2014) of the Encore alla turca

Version for two pianos (2014) of the Encore alla turca

Version for ten instruments (2017) of the Encore alla turca