For the 1809 premiere of Schiller’s translation of the famous story of ‘Turandot’, Carl Maria von Weber wrote an overture and six related pieces as incidental music with a unifying theme based on the ‘Air Chinois’. This theme is based on a Chinese tune first noted by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his 'Dictionnaire de Musique' in 1768. Described as an ‘Air Chinois’, the tune was brought to France from China in the 18th century by a French missionary. Dutch arranger Rens van Leeuwen transcribed this overture and its accompanying march from ‘Turandot’ for Symphonic Band.