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