By Jeremy Pound

Published: Sunday, 31 December 2023 at 13:02 PM

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The famous Vienna New Year’s Day concert takes place on – surprise, surprise – 1 January at the Austrian capital’s Musikverein concert hall.

Performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the best orchestras in the world, it begins at 11.15pm and is broadcast on TV across the world.

What music does the Vienna New Year’s Day concert include?

The programme every year consists largely of familiar waltzes, polkas and other dances by the Strauss family – especially Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II – but also includes other composers. Today, Johann Strauss II’s much-loved Blue Danube Waltz always features as one of the encores.

• The best classical music for New Year’s Eve
• Christmas classical music: the best festive pieces of all time

When was the first Vienna New Year concert?

Ironically, the first ever Vienna New Year’s Day Concert took place not on 1 January but on 31 December, 1939, when it was intended primarily as a wartime morale-booster. Clemens Krauss conducted the music on that occasion and continued to lead the majority of the concerts until 1954. At that point, it was taken over by violinist and conductor Willi Boskovsky, who, from 1955-79, played a large part in making it the much-loved occasion that it has become today.

Today, famous maestros from across the world take it in turn to enjoy the spotlight of what is one of the most popular events in the musical calendar. And for those who want to relive the action once 1 January is past, a recording of each year’s concert is quickly released. – 2022’s recording is below