German composer Richard Georg Strauss finished the score of the Festmusik der Stadt Wien - Festival Music for the City of Vienna - on January 14, 1943, at his Viennese home. The score is dedicated to the Vienna City Council, officially in gratitude for having been awarded its Beethoven Prize the previous year. Written for the Vienna Trumpet Corps, the piece was originally scored for ten trumpets, seven trombones (two alto, three tenor, and two bass), two tubas, and timpani. Strauss himself conducted the work's premiere in the Festival Hall of the Vienna Rathaus on April 9, 1943. Ten days later he made a much shorter version of the work known simply as "Vienna Fanfare." The piece we are playing today was arranged for military band by Eric Banks. --James Huff 06:28, 21 July 2008 (UTC) (from