Though the music of Johann Strauss I was eclipsed by that of his more famous son, "Waltz King" Johann Strauss II, Strauss père wrote a number of works that have remained durable favorites, particularly on New Year's Eve and pops programs. His best-known effort is the Radetzky March, Op. 228 (1848), written in honor of the Austrian general Joseph Radetzky, who had rousted the Italian rebellion at Custozza earlier that year. Despite its usual military band instrumentation, the tone of the march is more elegantly celebratory than rousingly martial; indeed, it seems but a small distance removed from the dance music for which the Strauss clan was renowned.

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