Marches are probably the first music heard and remembered as a child--what would a parade be without them?

Sousa "Stars and Stripes Forever"
Sousa "Liberty Bell"
Elgar "Pomp and Circumstance March" (How could we graduate without it?)
Tchaikowsky "March Slav

I ENJOYED ALL THE COMMENTS FROM YOUR MANY KNOWLEDGEABLE LISTENERS.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK WQXR.

Working strictly from your selections, my votes are for:

Radetzky
Liberty Bell (Sousa and Monty Python - what a combination)
Wedding March from Lohengrin
Raider's of the Lost Ark

Although if I had my druthers, I would write in Funeral March of the Marionettes

First, someone suggested Colonel Bogey, but why not the actual River Kwai March, or the superposition of the two? Also favorites include The French National Defile March (used by Ohio State Marching Band (TBDBITL) for their script Ohio formation, Marche Lorraine (de Lisle?),Le Legion Etager or other French marches (played by French Bands!) Or any of the other 150 military marches I have recordings of! Love band marches.

Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever leaves me weepie eyed.
I remember the high school band playing this as the American Legion marched to the city cemetery om Memorial Day in the early 50s, and my dad, a World War I veteran was among them.
This year, for the first time in maybe 60 years, I am going back home to attend the Memorial Day ceremony.
And I will probably break down in tears.

Bet you can't GUESS what I wanna hear.....OK...My TOP 4 MARCHES...(1) SOUSA- ''STARS & STRIPES FOREVER''( The most rousing march EVER written!) (2) SOUSA- ''LIBERTY BELL MARCH'' (SECOND most rousing march ever written!) (3) TCHAIKOVSKY- ''MARCH SLAVE'' (Best ''classical'' march...moving, melodic with a bombastic ending) and (4) STRAUSS-''RADETSKY MARCH''....(Great bounce that a great march needs!) THANKYOU WOXR FOR MARCH MUSIC APPRECIATION!

Good Evening, for number 1, I would like to offer a funeral march for a certain marionette, followed by Berlioz's March to the Scaffold, then to keep the music in the same spirit, the wedding marches from Lohengrin, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I would have suggested the March of the Wooden Soldiers; but both they, and the boogiemen, give me nightmares.

March Of The Wooden Soldiers From Babes In Toy Land and Col. Bogie March From Bridge On the River Kwai.Great Marches. See Ya Soon. Right now I've got to march on out of here Bye,,C.J.W

Does it have to be an orchestra? I'd vote for Schubert's "Marche Militaire" for the piano.

Put in another vote for Liszt's Rakoczi March.
How about the Soldiers Chorus from Gounod's Faust?

For the Midwest Regional:

Richard Rodgers - "Victory March" from "Victory at Sea", as rousing as a Sousa march and with severalthemes, some later incorporated into other pieces.

Who will ever forget the march from "Norma" played by Lester Lanin at Princeton Houseparties?

From your list, my favorites would be:

Mendelssohn: Midsummer Night’s Dream - Wedding March
Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever
Strauss, Sr: Radetzky March

For the fourth, and my Cinderella team:

Herbert: March of the Toys

Handel's march from Saul
Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance #1
March from Raiders of the Lost Ark
Grand March- Aida by Verdi

Strauss-Radetsky Marc
Rodgers-March of the Siamese Children
Elgar-Pomp and Circumstranc
Sousa-Stars and Stripes Forever

Based on the sixteen marches listed above, my final four are:

Sousa, Stars & Stripes Forever (loved playing the piccolo part in my high school band, both marching & concert)
Sousa, Liberty Bell
Rodgers, King & I, March of the Siamese Children
Strauss Sr., Radetzky March

I should have looked at your list more closely before suggesting a Grieg march. You already have a Grieg piece on the list -- it's just under Richard Rodgers. Listen to Wedding at Troldhaugen, and you be the judge about Rodgers lifting a major theme for his March of the Siamese Children.

If I had to pick just one, I'd choose the march from the Sigurd Jorsalfar Suite by Grief. And I'm not even Norwegian.

There is a processional piece in Handel's oratorio "Joshua" that is not very long, but shockingly awe inspiring. Its name is quite a mouthful, "The solemn march for the circumvection of the Ark of the Covenant."

The South Regional
Concert Variations on the Portuguese Hymn to King Louis I - Louis Moreau Gottschalk

Donald Gillis "January February March"

There are so great many choices! I don't think any Best Marches list would be complete without Star Wars. :)

There are so many choices:

Radetsky March - Johann Strauss Sr
Crown Imperial - Sir William Walton
Orb and Scepter - Sir William Walton
The Liechtenstein March - Joseph Strauss
Suite #1 in E Flat - Gustav Holst
Suite #2 in F - Gustav Holst
Festive Coronation March - Pyotr Tchaikovsky

I wouldn't know where to put these great classical marches.

My Final Four:
1. Holst Second Suite in F
2. Mahler Symphony No. 5 - 1st mvt.
3. Wagner Siegfried's Funeral March
4. Hindemith - March from Symphonic Metamorphosis

Honorable mentions - Mozart Turkish March, Britten Pacifist March

Chronologically speaking, you would have to move Sousa's "Liberty Bell" and "Stars & Stripes Forever" marches to the South Regional bracket as they were composed in 1893 and 1896 respectively. For the East Regional, I'd put my money on Sousa's "Sabre & Spurs" (1917) and "Nobles Of The Mystic Shrine" (1923) provided as Sisko24 stated, they are played well. Another Eric Coates march that comes to mind is his "Knightsbridge/In Town Tonight" from London Everyday Suite (1933).

Hmm, not a good listing of choices. Where is 'March Upon a Theme by Handel' by Guilmant or 'The Tsar's Farewell' by Rimski-Korsakoff or 'The Dam Busters' by Coates or 'RAF March Past' by Walford Davies? I realize WQXR had to limit the choices, but if you're going to include music from Broadway and movies, why not other choices? I will vote for 'Stars and Stripes Forever' but then who doesn't love a good Sousa march played well?