Concert march

A concert march is a march specifically composed for a formal concert or other audience event. While concert marches are usually written for a concert band, brass band or an orchestra, some concert marches have also been composed for solo instrument such as piano or organ. Prior to 1820, the majority of march music was composed for military use by military bands. Beginning in the 1820s a shift occurred in which mainstream classical composers wrote less frequently for military ensembles but would create concert marches to be played by orchestras as character pieces. Because concert marches are played by ensembles that are stationary, composers creating concert marches ceased connecting the march to the context of marching feet. This separation from its original context led to stylistic changes: a clear separation in style between the military march and the concert march.