Synopsis
The "Radetzky March" is undoubtedly Johann Strauss Senior's most famous work. Its performance has become obligatory at the annual New Year's concert of the Vienna Philharmonic—it's the piece that involves audience participation in the form of a "clap along."
The premiere performance of this familiar music took place on today's date in the year 1848. Few people outside of Vienna know that this music had a distinct political subtext in Strauss's day, and not everyone back then was clapping along.
Field Marshall Radetzky was the commander of the Austrian forces that put down "insurgent democrats" in Italy during the revolutions of 1848, and, as such, became a counter-revolutionary hero in Europe. The premiere of the "Radetzky March" occurred at a concert attended chiefly by monarchists and the Austrian military, and the tune quickly became the unofficial anthem of the Austrian military and ultra-conservatives—the "far right" of that time.
Curiously enough, Johann Strauss Junior held diametrically opposite political sympathies from his father. The younger Strauss even wrote a "Revolution" March and in 1848 his Viennese orchestra once dared play the "far left" French anthem, the "Marseillaise," which got him into trouble with the authorities.
By the end of the 19th century, however, the bloody political troubles of 1848 were diplomatically swept under the collective Austrian carpet, and Johann Strauss Junior's "Blue Danube" Waltz became the unofficial anthem for ALL Austrians, right, left and center.
Music Played in Today's Program
Johann Strauss Sr. (1804 – 1849) Radetzky March Johann Strauss Orchestra; Christopher Warren-Green, cond. Black Box 1059
On This Day
Births
1834 - Italian opera composer Amilcare Ponchielli, in Paderno Fasolaro, Cremona;
Premieres
1928 - Kurt Weill: "Die Dreigroschenoper" (The Threepenny Opera) in Berlin at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, to a libretto by German poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht
1970 - Birtwistle: "Verses for Ensembles," in London;
2000 - Philip Glass: opera "In the Penal Colony" (based on a story by Franz Kafka), by A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in Seattle.
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About Composers Datebook®
Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.
He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.