The Gardemusik Wien (''Guards Band Vienna'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

) is one of nine

military bands A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

in Austria and is the seniormost band in the

Austrian Armed Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of natio ...

. Unlike its German counterparts in the

Bundeswehr The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

, the band lacks a

corps of drums A Corps of Drums, also sometimes known as a Fife and Drum Corps, Fifes and Drums or simply Drums is a unit of several national armies. Drummers were originally established in European armies to act as signallers. The major historical distin ...

, which is the most essential part to the German format. It consists of 60 military musicians who provide musical accompaniment to the Gardebataillon, of which it is the official regimental band.

Brief History

It was created following the implementation of the

Austrian State Treaty The Austrian State Treaty (german: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag ) or Austrian Independence Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state. It was signed on 15 May 1955 in Vienna, at the Schloss Belvedere among the Allied occupying po ...

in September 1955. At the time of its creation, it was under the command of the Austrian national border guard department. It has been under the command of the

Austrian Land Forces The Austrian Armed Forces (german: Bundesheer, lit=Federal Army) are the combined military forces of the Republic of Austria. The military consists of 22,050 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 0.74% of natio ...

since January 1956, when the Army Battalion took over all representative tasks in Vienna. By May 1957, the regiment was renamed to the Guards Battalion, therefore branding the band as the Gardemusik. The Gardemusik was the only Austrian military band to not be affected by the reduction in staff and cuts to its budget by the government in October 2014. The Gardemusik carries out an annual 15-week training course new recruits.

Tasks

The primary tasks of the Gardemusik are to provide support to ceremonial events such as accreditations of ambassadors, welcoming ceremonies, and parades and to conduct annual receptions for the

diplomatic corps The diplomatic corps (french: corps diplomatique) is the collective body of foreign diplomats accredited to a particular country or body. The diplomatic corps may, in certain contexts, refer to the collection of accredited heads of mission ( am ...

(mostly done by the symphonic wind orchestra). In addition to its main tasks, the Gardemusik produced over twenty recordings, in addition to military marches including recordings of works by Johann Strauss, Carl Michael Ziehrer and Joseph Lanner. The unit has a Sexennial tradition to compose a new military march in honor of the election of a new Federal President, which was more recently done for President

Alexander Van der Bellen Alexander Van der Bellen (; born 18 January 1944) is the current president of Austria. He previously served as a professor of economics at the University of Vienna, and after joining politics, as the spokesman of the Austrian Green Party. ...

in 2017.

List of Leaders

The title of Director of Music (DOM) belongs to the highest ranking officer in the band, who is the ''de facto'' leader of the band. Currently, this position is held by Colonel Bernhard Heher. The DOM is assisted by the deputy director and the

bandmaster A bandmaster is the leader and conductor of a band, usually a concert band, military band, brass band or a marching band. British Armed Forces In the British Army, bandmasters of the Royal Corps of Army Music now hold the rank of staff s ...

Directors of Music

*1956–1960: Gustav Gaigg *1960–1971: Friedrich Hodick *1972–1975: Rudolf Bara *1975–2002: Johann Schadenbauer *Since 2002: Bernhard Heher''Bundesheer - Truppendienst - Folge 309, Ausgabe 3/2009: Die Gardemusik''
/ref>

Deputy Directors

*1963–1965: Franz Josef Kohsich *1965–1968: Anton Sollfellner *1968–1969: Rudolf Bodingbauer *1969–1971: Rudolf Bara *1990–1995: Hannes Lackner *1997–2002: Bernhard Heher *Since 2005: Johann Kausz

Bandmasters

*1956–1960: Josef Hahn *1960–1974: Johann Bauerstätter *1975–1980: Josef Hain *1980–993: Hermann Auer *1993–2011: Josef Höller''Arkadenhofkonzert 2011 - Musikmeister in Ruhestand verabschiedet''
/ref> *Since 2011: Gerald Springer

Photos

File:Dancer against cancer 2010, Gardemusik (2).jpg, File:Abmarsch der Garde und des Musikcorps, dahinter das Bundeskanzleramt (cropped 2).jpg, File:Garde (8125758151).jpg, File:Gardemusik Wien 1298.JPG,

References

{{Authority control Military bands Military units and formations established in 1955 1955 establishments in Austria Military units and formations of Austria Musical groups established in 1955