Max Derrickson

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart     (b January 27, 1756 in Salzburg; d December 5, 1791 inVienna)

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A-major, K. 219 “Turkish”
1. Allegro aperto (fast and “frank” or “open”)
2. Adagio
3. Rondo, Tempo di menuetto

Though at first it may sound that Mozart’s Fifth Violin Concerto is “typical” Mozart (lighthearted and formulaic), the masterful Mozart, as usual, has loaded this brilliant work with beauty and novelty.  The first of these master strokes occurs when the violin soloist first appears.  After a standard introduction by the orchestra, the violin enters, at a slower tempo with a new theme
[. . .]
dance (Menuetto), breaks into a Turkish-sounding section complete with stomping feet and some wonderful up and down melodic swoops – and hence, the Concerto’s nickname, the “Turkish.”