The first of the three is far more famous than the others. It is one of Schubert's most famous compositions, and it is often simply referred to as "Schubert's Marche militaire".
Background
It is not certain when the Marches militaires were written: many scholars favour 1818[1] but some prefer alternative dates such as 1822 or 1824.[2] It is known that they were written during Schubert's stay at Count Johann Karl Esterházy's summer home in Zseliz in Hungary (now Želiezovce in Slovakia). He had accepted a job there as music teacher to the Count's daughters, Maria Theresia and Caroline, and these and similar works were written for instructional purposes.
The Marches militaires were published in Vienna on 7 August 1826, as Op. 51, by Anton Diabelli.[3]
They are all in ternary form, with a central trio leading to a reprise of the main march.
This march is one of Schubert's most famous melodies, and it has been arranged for full orchestra, military bands, and many different combinations of instruments.
This march was used as theme music by the Autolite company to promote its products, notably in a 1940 promotional film produced by the Jam Handy organization, famous for its closing sequence, which featured stop motion animation of the products marching past Autolite factories. An abbreviated version of this sequence was later used in television ads for Autolite, especially those on the 1950s CBS program Suspense, which Autolite sponsored.
The composition appears in the 1932 short film Santa's Workshop and there are also Christmas lyrics in Swedish, as "Önskelistan" ("the Wishlist") written by Gunlis Österberg,[4] also known as "Vi vill ha skridskor, en häst och en rymdraket" ("We want iceskates, a horse and a rocket-spacecraft").
