Arriaga became known as "the Spanish Mozart", having been born 50 years to the day after the Salzburg master and having also been a childhood prodigy. At age 16 he headed off to the Paris Conservatoire, where he was quite a hit, but apparently pushed himself too hard. He died 10 days short of his 20th birthday. of some combination of lung disease (tuberculosis?) and exhaustion. Arriaga wrote this march at age 13, for the military band of his time, likely one in his native Bilbao, in Basque Spain (where today you’ll find the Teatro Arriaga). The four percussion parts are directly from the original. The original was in C-major, including clarinets/trumpets/horns in C, flute in D, piccolo in F. serpent in Bb (written in bass clef but transposed), bassoons, and trombone.