Fractal Composition? Musical Analysis of Mozart's Turkish March | EP 22

In this music analysis, we'll deep-dive into the structure, harmony, and fascinating compositional technique of Mozart's famous Rondo Alla turca (from Piano Sonata No. 11, K. 331). I will debate how the entire 3rd movement is unified and derived from one single motive: the double neighbor tone. I will make the argument that Mozart utilized self-similarity—the core principle of fractals—to construct his masterpieces. A fractal is a pattern that repeats itself at every scale. This revelation is key to understanding Mozart's genius as a great master of motivic development.

I’m Dr. Bohdan Syroyid, and if you’d like to study music composition with me, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email at [email protected]. I’m looking to build a community of people interested in music composition and analysis, so please feel free to introduce yourself to other viewers by sharing a bit about your musical background and interests.

00:00:00 Introduction to the main motive as an arc
00:01:53 Arc form rondo ABCBABcoda
00:06:50 Arcs within Section A
00:13:10 Section A1 - modulating sentence to minor dominant
00:21:36 Section A1' - variation with German augmented sixth chord
00:25:15 Section A2 - modulating sequences to relative major
00:29:02 Section B - the actual chorus of the piece
00:35:50 Section C1 - modulating period to the relative of the dominant
00:38:48 Summary of Mozart's tonal plan
00:44:12 Section C2 - extension and contraction of the arc motive
00:47:36 Section C1' - variation with secondary dominant chromatic scale
00:52:28 Coda - phrase deviations with contractions, 7 and 6 bar sentences
01:02:39 Closing considerations about the Alla turca

If you want to look into my music, check out @syroyid
Si hablas español, puede interesarte @aula-syroyid

#mozart #phrase deviation #composition #musicanalysis
Special thanks to my patreons: Edward Smith, Maria Begona and Kate