Rhythm of "Blue Rondo à la Turk": the arrows on the tempo dial show the tempo for ♪, ♩, ♩. and the measure beat. Starts slow, and speeds up to approximate the tempo of "Blue Rondo à la Turk".
Brubeck heard this unusual rhythm performed by Turkish musicians on the street. Upon asking the musicians where they got the rhythm, one replied "This rhythm is to us what the blues is to you." Hence the title "Blue Rondo à la Turk."[2]
Contrary to popular belief, the piece is neither inspired by nor related to the last movement of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11, known by the near-identical title "Rondo Alla Turca".[3]
The rhythm is an additive rhythm that consists of three measures of 2+2+2+3 followed by one measure of 3+3+3 and the cycle then repeats. Taking the smallest time unit as eighth notes, then the main beats are:
Derivative pieces
Rock keyboardist Keith Emerson used this piece (uncredited) as a foundation of his "Rondo" beginning when he was with the progressive rock band The Nice; it appeared on the album The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack. Emerson's version was in 4 4 time and Brubeck, meeting with Emerson in 2003, described it to him as "your 4/4 version which I can't play."[4] Emerson, a great admirer of Brubeck, took this to mean that Brubeck preferred his own version, as Brubeck would have had no difficulty in playing Emerson's interpretation.[5]
