the pizzicato polka is a piece of orchestral music by johann strauss ii. strauss composed it with his brother josef in 1869 for a trip to imperial russia. it was published in 1870. the polka was written for string orchestra and glockenspiel. it was hugely popular, especially in italy, where it was included on every program strauss played there. the piece consists of four melodies and the work is arranged in ternary form (a-b-a). the piece is scored for plucked strings.