Strauss, J :: Radetzky March op. 288

Musicians Publications presents Johann Strauss' Radetzky March arranged for woodwind quartet by Bill Holcombe Jr. Scored for flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, this arrangement also includes an optional bass clarinet part to replace the bassoon when necessary. This quartet is advanced in difficulty.

Johann Strauss Sr. wanted to be a cafe musician since childhood, and had managed to learn violin and harmony on his own. At age fifteen, he was playing in Viennese cafes with Joseph Lanner, another fine waltz composer. In a few years, Strauss formed his own orchestra, and by the time he had reached his mid-twenties was the toast of Vienna. Before long he was touring the capitals of Europe, and his orchestra performed at Queen Victoria s coronation ball. He composed hundreds of dance numbers, including 150 waltzes. Strauss composed this march in honor of Austrian field marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, a war hero. Festive and jubilant rather than sternly martial, the Radetzky March was first performed before an audience of Austrian officers, who began clapping rhythmically at once, and began stomping their feet along with their clapping shortly thereafter a tradition that continues in Vienna today. - Mark Rohr