Turkey.
No, not that sort of turkey.
Turkey in the Regency period and the late eighteenth-century was a place quite recently “discovered” by travelers and tourists. It came to represent all things exotic and naughty such as
Harems!
Even Ingres got in on the act.
Mozart liked the idea so much he wrote The Abduction from the Seraglio and introduced Turkish characters in Cosi fan tutte. And he, Haydn, and Beethoven changed the sound of the orchestra by introducing such exotic imports as the kettledrum.
Click here and listen to the famous Ronda alla turca from Mozart’s piano sonata no. 11, K. 331.
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!
Janet
I wonder, can one have turkey in Turkey? Hmm, the mind ponders. . .
To all the fellow colonists around, Happy Thanksgiving! 🙂
Lois
Janet, you are so clever! I am in awe.
Finishing off a good day with some Mozart. Perfect. Thanks, Janet.
In an aside…
A huge CONGRATULATIONS to the Riskies. The 2006 Booksellers Award winners have been announced:
Amanda McCabe won for Lady Midnight in the long historical category.
Cara King won for My Lady Gamester in the Regency category.
A virtual champagne bottle to you Cara and a box of Fran’s Truffles to you Amanda.
The Rondo ala Turk is one of my all time fave pieces. I even tried to learn to play it – with one drawback: I can’t play piano! 🙂
Mina
Ooh, thanks, Keira! I see you got the December RWR! 🙂
Cara
Yes! And I was so happy to see your two names in there. (Kind of like…one of your own, you know?)