Deutscher Tanz

In 18th-century society, marches served a variety of functions. For example, they were used to provide a festive setting for the entrance of rulers. In opera, they could also be employed to fill gaps in the plot or to cover short pauses required for scene changes. In Mozart’s works, marches also appear in connection with multi-movement compositions such as cassations and serenades. Mozart often notated such marches separately from the score of the work for which they were intended. This not only made it easier to reuse a march for another occasion, but also gave the copyist more time to extract the individual parts, since marches were typically memorized by the musicians so they could approach or leave the outdoor venue of a performance. This also explains why marches usually omit timpani, even when used alongside trumpets in the corresponding serenades. In some cases, Mozart composed marches for keyboard instruments or created piano arrangements of orchestral marches himself.