UNO-Marsch - Robert Stolz

In the 1960's, Austrian composer Robert Stolz (1880-1975) wrote the "UNO-Marsch" op. 1275, the United Nations March. He was inspired and motivated by his friend Ralph Bunche, a U.S. diplomat and civil rights activist. Even as an adolescent, African-American Bunche was concerned with race issues and repression. With time he acquired high political status and was a mediator for the United Nations during several global crises. In 1950, he was the first Black person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The two friends Ralph Bunche and Robert Stolz (who had left his homeland in the National Socialism era) felt strongly connected by their revulsion of racial segregation and by their wish for humanity's peaceful coexistance."UNO-Marsch" honors the important work of the United Nations and is a musical tribute to the larger goal of peace. The composition gained particular European popularity when the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Mariss Jansons opened their famous New Year's concert in 2016 with "UNO-Marsch".