March Madness

From Beethoven to Sousa, we’re searching for the greatest march of all during #MarchMadness!

It’s the most maddening music known to man: the march. From Beethoven to Sousa, the march has a way of creeping into your ear and staying for a while. It follows you throughout the day with its relentless, sunny rhythms. And it keeps you awake at night with its drearily optimistic melodies. There’s a name for this sickness: march madness!

This month, we’re celebrating the march with a tournament to pick the greatest march of all time. Follow along and vote on Twitter and check back here for the results!

After exhaustive research, we identified sixteen contenders for the competition. The works were listed in alphabetical order, randomly seeded and entered into the bracket. Each “game” is a poll on Twitter. Voting will be available for 12 hours. The winning marches from each matchup will advance through the tournament until the final two meet on April 2.

You can listen to all the marches on our Spotify playlist. Make sure to vote for your favorites!

Complete list of works:

• Beach: Children’s Album, Op. 36, No. 4: March

• Beethoven: Symphony No. 3, Eroica, Movement II: Marcia funebre

• Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique, Movement IV: March to the Scaffold

• Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1, March of the Toreadors

• Chopin: Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, “Funeral March”

• Elgar: Pomp and Circumstance Marches, Op. 39, No. 1

• Gounod: Funeral March of a Marionette

• Mendelssohn: A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Movement V: Wedding March

• Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 11, Rondo Alla turca

• Rimsky-Korsakov: Procession of the Nobles

• Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals, Movement I: Introduction and Royal March of the Lion

• Smyth: March of the Women

• Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever

• Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Suite, Movement II: March

• Verdi: Aida, “Grand March”

• John Williams: Imperial March from Star Wars: A New Hope

Vote for your favorite marches and follow the game on Twitter with #SSOMarchMadness!