Festival March, Op. 54, B88

Opus number

54

Burghauser catalogue number

88

Date of composition

January / February 1879

Premiere - date and place

23 April 1879, Prague

Premiere performer(s)

Provisional Theatre Orchestra, conductor Adolf Čech

First edition

Emanuel Starý, 1879, Prague

Main key

C major

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, triangle, harp, violins, violas, cellos, double basses

Duration

approx. 5 min.

The Festival March is an occasional piece written as an introduction to a gala performance at the Prague’s Provisional Theatre to mark the silver wedding of Emperor Franz Joseph I and his wife, the Empress Elisabeth. The music is ceremonial in character and ends with an impressive coda.