Character 5: Other Topics

The military character is one of the most prevalent during the period, not surprisingly perhaps, considering that for a good deal of this time Europe was at war. The features of the military character are as one would expect: martial dotted rhythms, arpeggiaic fanfares – and the use of brass and high flutes in orchestrated works – and swaggering chords. Mozart rarely referred overtly to events on the world stage, but he does so in two of his orchestral Contredanses, both in C major. K. 535, which exists in a piano reduction, is called 'La Bataille' (The Battle, 1788) referring to the siege of Belgrade (1788–9), and K. 587 of 1789 is called 'Der Sieg vom Helden Coburg' [The Victory of the Hero, (Coburg-Saalfeld), 1789], commemorating Austrian victories over the Turks. There are also references to the style in other works, notably the variation-finnale of his C minor Piano Concerto, K. 491 (1786), both in the opening of the theme and its orchestration, punctuated by timpani and trumpets, and in several of the variations. ¹ His satirical Marche funèbre del Sgr. Maestro Contrapunto [Funeral March for Maestro Counterpoint] (Ex. 11.1) is a less exalted, but comical instance.