Sonata in A, KV 331 - 3. Rondo "alla Turca"

by Wolfgang A. Mozart (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)

The Sonata in A is the second of three sonatas now established as likely to have been composed during 1783, perhaps during the period Mozart and his wife Constanze spent in Salzburg in the summer months of that year. This was the occasion on which the composer introduced his new bride to his father Leopold. Mozart clearly intended this trio to form a group, numbering them from one to three. They were almost certainly composed with his Viennese...

Also in 'Vocal & Chamber Music':

• O soave fanciulla, from "La boheme"
  by Giacomo Puccini (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)
• Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix, from "Samson et Dalila"
  by Camille Saint-Saens (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)
• Che gelida manina, from "La boheme"
  by Giacomo Puccini (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)

Au fond du temple saint, from "The Pearl Fishers"

by Georges Bizet (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)

Despite its exotic setting, this early opera stubbornly refuses to abandon the stage and enter the heart, as Carmen undoubtedly did. What conviction there is comes mainly from the 25-year-old composer's melodic fluency and subtle treatment of the orchestra, as in the beautiful tune of the Prelude.

The scene is set in Ceylon and concerns the love of Zurga, king of the pearl fishers, and his friend Nadir for a priestess, Leïla. In the fir...

Also in 'Vocal & Chamber Music':

• Ah! per sempre io ti perdei, from "I Puritani"
  by Vincenzo Bellini (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)
• Habanera, from "Carmen"
  by Georges Bizet (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)
• The Barber of Seville - Overture
  by Gioacchino Rossini (arr. Glynn Davies of Glynn's Music)