The Vienna Philharmonic gave the first concert now known as the Vienna New Year's Concert in 1939.
The event was first presented on December 31, 1939, during a period when Austria was under Nazi rule. It was initially called a special concert rather than the modern January 1 New Year's Concert. The program focused on music by the Strauss family and related Viennese composers, a repertoire that remains central today.
The concert moved to January 1 in 1941. After the interruption caused by the final years of World War II, the January 1 tradition resumed in 1946. Since then, the concert has become an international broadcast watched by audiences in many countries.
The program usually features waltzes, polkas and marches, with “The Blue Danube” and “Radetzky March” traditionally appearing near the end. The conductor changes from year to year, so the orchestra—not one permanent conductor—is the continuing institution at the heart of the event.