The Radetzky March is the piece where the audience joins in. Johann Strauss Sr. wrote it in Vienna in 1848 to honor an Austrian army commander. It lasts about three minutes. Each January 1, it ends the New Year’s Concert in Vienna, and the whole hall claps in time.
Quick facts
- Composer: Johann Strauss Sr., who lived from 1804 to 1849
- Written: 1848
- Named for: Joseph Radetzky, an Austrian field marshal
- Length: about 3 minutes
- Beat: two beats in a bar, the beat of marching feet
- Famous for: the clapping
Who Radetzky was
Joseph Radetzky was a commander in the Austrian army. In 1848, when he was past 80, his troops won a battle in northern Italy. Vienna held a celebration, and Strauss wrote this march for it.
Strauss led the most famous dance orchestra in the city. He died the next year. His son, also named Johann, went on to write The Blue Danube.
How a march is built
A march is music for walking in step. It has two beats in a bar: left, right. Read dances in classical music.
This march has three sections.
| Section | What happens |
|---|---|
| The march | A drum roll and a short fanfare. Then the bouncy main tune, soft at first and loud when it returns |
| The trio | A smoother, gentler tune in the middle |
| The march again | The opening section comes back to end the piece |
The middle section of a march is called the trio.
What to listen for
The drum roll. A snare drum starts the piece alone.
Soft and loud. The main tune comes in two ways: a quiet, tiptoe way and a loud, proud way.
The bass. Low instruments play “oom-pah” under the tune: a low note, and then a higher chord.
The return. After the trio, the first tune comes back, and the piece ends with a bang.
The clapping
At the New Year’s Concert, the Vienna Philharmonic plays this march as its last piece. The audience claps on the beat. The conductor turns around to face the hall and conducts the clapping: soft for the quiet parts and loud for the loud ones.
The story goes that Austrian officers clapped and stamped along when they first heard the march in 1848. Nobody can prove it.
Read the Vienna New Year’s Concert with kids.
Things to do together
Clap the march. Clap with two fingers for the quiet part and with full hands for the loud part.
Be the conductor. One person faces the family and shows soft or loud with small or big arms. Read how to conduct music for kids.
March and tiptoe. March around the room for the loud parts. Tiptoe for the soft ones.
Add a drum. Tap the beat on a bucket or a pot. Read bucket drumming for kids.
Questions to ask
- How can you tell this is a march and not a waltz?
- Where does the music go soft? What do the players do to make it soft?
- Why does the conductor let the audience join in?
Words to know
- March: music with a strong, steady beat for walking in step
- Trio: the gentler middle section of a march
- Fanfare: a short, bright call, most often for brass
Print and play
Print the tempo and dynamics word cards. Read Johann Strauss Sr. for kids and musical families. For an American march, read The Stars and Stripes Forever for kids.
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This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.