Turkish music style

Turkish music, in the sense described here, is not the music of Turkey, but rather a musical style that was occasionally used by European composers, most notably during the Classical era of Western art music. This music was modelled—though often only distantly—on the music of Turkish military bands, specifically the Janissary bands.

Although the "Turkish style" (alla turca) reached its height during the Classical period, composers as far back as the middle Baroque era had already written musical pieces in homage to Turkish military bands, such as Jean-Baptiste Lully's Marche pour la Cérémonie des Turcs from Le Bourgeois gentilhomme.