The Turkish March

A piece in today's Times Op-Ed page points out how Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" has been co-opted by governments and other organizations--including some tyrants--for their own purposes, making Beethoven's masterpiece into an "empty signifier." And there's this:

"In the middle of the movement, after we hear the main melody (the 'joy' theme) in three orchestral and three vocal variations, something unexpected happens that has bothered critics for the last 180 years: at Bar 331, the tone changes totally, and, instead of the solemn hymnic progression, the same 'joy' theme is repeated in the 'marcia turca' (or Turkish march) style, a conceit borrowed from military music for wind and percussion instruments that 18th-century European armies adopted from the Turkish janissaries.

"The mode then becomes one of a carnivalesque parade, a mocking spectacle — critics have even compared the sounds of the bassoons and bass drum that accompany the beginning of the marcia turca to flatulence. After this point, such critics feel, everything goes wrong, the simple solemn dignity of the first part of the movement is never recovered. "

I'm not sure which critics are being discussed here. There is no doubt that the Turkish March section stands in sharp contrast to what has come before. It lightens the air somewhat, and provides an almost satirical commentary on the whole piece. It may also attest to Beethoven's devilish sense of humor, which is present in many of his works, although not everyone chooses to hear it. The Turkish March quickly turns into a fiendish fugato, so this moment of misrule is brief.

Still, I'm not sure if it's wise to invest too much into the Turkish March section. It's good to keep in mind the words that it's set to:

Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.

And the translation: "Joyously, as his suns speed/Through Heaven's glorious order,/Hasten, Brothers, on your way,/Exulting as a knight in victory." (Courtesy of Classical Music Pages.)

The Turkish March gives the sense of a small military band saluting the "knight [or hero] in victory." It's somewhat literal; I'm sure Beethoven heard bands of this style throughout his young life. It reminds me somewhat of the Salvation Army band that stalks the young lovers in Elgar's Cockaigne Overture--the semi-comical, seemingly inappropriate intrusion that introduces a crucial musical counterweight.

Let's never forget what Mahler said: "A symphony must be like the world. It must encompass everything." True for Beethoven's Ninth, too.