The piece
Johann Strauss the elder wrote the Radetzky March in 1848 in honour of Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky, after his victory at Custoza in Italy; it was first played in Vienna on 31 August 1848. Since 1946 it has closed the Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert every year, with the audience clapping along on the repeat. The version played here is the one Strauss himself published for the piano with Haslinger, entered note by note for Noctave from that edition.
Everything rests on short, light staccato chords and notes: let the wrist bounce without stiffening the arm. The left hand alternates a bass note and a chord, steady as a marching step. The grace notes before the F sharp are played just before the beat, very quickly. In the middle, the trio moves to A major, with trills in the right hand.
