Sousa, John Philip
Sousa, John Philip
Sousa, John Philip, famous American bandmaster and composer; b. Washington, D.C., Nov. 6, 1854; d. Reading, Pa., March 6, 1932. He was the son of a Portuguese father and a German mother. He studied violin and orchestration with John Esputa Jr., and violin and harmony with George Felix Benkert in Washington, D.C.; also acquired considerable proficiency on wind instruments. After playing in the Marine Band (1868–75), he was active in theater orchs.; in 1876 he was a violinist in the special orch. in Philadelphia conducted by Offenbach during his U.S. tour. In 1880 he was appointed director of the Marine Band, which he led with distinction until 1892. He then organized his own band and led it in its first concert in Plainfield, N.J., on Sept. 26, 1892. In subsequent years he gave successful concerts throughout the U.S. and Canada; played at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 and at the Paris Exposition in 1900; made 4 European tours (1900, 1901, 1903, and 1905), with increasing acclaim, and finally a tour around the world, in 1910–11. His flair for writing band music was extraordinary; the infectious rhythms of his military marches and the brilliance of his band arrangements earned him the sobriquet “The March King”; particularly celebrated is his march The Stars and Stripes Forever, which became famous all over the world; in 1987 a bill was passed in the U.S. Congress and duly signed by President Ronald Reagan making it the official march of the U.S. During World War I, Sousa served as a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve. He continued his annual tours almost to the time of his death. He was instrumental in the development of the Sousa-phone, a bass tuba with upright bell, which has been used in bands since the 1890s.
Works
(in alphabetical order): DRAMATIC: Operetta: The American Maid (1909; Rochester, N.Y., Jan. 27, 1913); The Bride Elect (New Haven, Conn., Dec. 28, 1897); El Capitan (1895; Boston, April 13, 1896); The Charlatan (Montreal, Aug. 29, 1898); Chris and the Wonderful Lamp (New Haven, Conn., Oct. 23, 1899); Desirée (1883; Washington, D.C., May 1, 1884); The Free Lance (1905; Springfield, Mass., March 26, 1906); The Irish Dragoon ( 1915; unfinished); Katherine (1879); The Queen of Hearts (1885; Washington, D.C., April 12, 1886); The Smugglers (Washington, D.C., March 25, 1882). Other: Incidental music. marches: Across the Danube (1877); America First (1916); Anchor and Star (1918); Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company (1924); The Atlantic City Pageant (1927); The Aviators (1931); The Beau Ideal (1893); The Belle of Chicago (1892); Ben Bolt (1888); The Black Horse Troop (1924); Bonnie Annie Laurie (1883); Boy Scouts of America (1916); The Bride Elect (1897); Bullets and Bayonets (1918); El Capitan (1896); A Century of Progress (1931); The Chantyman’s March (1918); The Charlatan (1898); The Circumnavigators Club (1931); Circus March (n.d.); Columbia’s Pride (1914); Comrades of the Legion (1920); Congress Hall (1882); Corcoran Cadets (1890); The Crusader (1888); Daughters of Texas (1929); The Dauntless Battalion (1922); The Diplomat (1904); The Directorate (1894); Esprit de Corps (1878); The Fairest of the Fair (1908); The Federal (1910); Flags of Freedom (1918); La Flor de Sevilla (1929); Foshay Tower Washington Memorial (1929); The Free Lance (1906); From Maine to Oregon (1913); The Gallant Seventh (1922); George Washington Bicentennial (1930); The Gladiator (1886; the first work to sell a million copies); Globe and Eagle (1879); The Glory of the Yankee Navy (1909); Golden Jubilee (1928); The Golden Star (1919); The Gridiron Club (1926); Guide Right (1881); Hail to the Spirit of Liberty (1900); Hands Across the Sea (1899); Harmonica Wizard (1930); The High School Cadets (1890); Homeward Bound (n.d.); The Honored Dead (1876); Imperial Edward (1902); In Memoriam (1881; for the assassinated President Garfield); The Invincible Eagle (1901); Jack Tar (1903); Kansas Wildcats (1931); Keeping Step with the Union (1921); King Cotton (1895); The Lambs’ March (1914); The Legionnaires (1930); The Liberty Bell (1893); Liberty Loan (1917); The Loyal Legion (1890); Magna Carta (1927); The Man Behind the Gun (1899); Manhattan Beach (1893); March of the Mitten Men (1923); March of the Pan-Americans (1915); March of the Royal Trumpets (1892); Marquette University March (1924; on receiving an honorary D.M., Nov. 16, 1923); Mikado March (1885); The Minnesota March (1927); Mother Goose (1883); Mother Hubbard March (1885); National Fencibles (1888); The National Game (1925; for the 50th anniversary of the National League of baseball); The Naval Reserve (1917); New Mexico (1928); The New York Hippodrome (1915); Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (1923); The Northern Pines (1931); The Occidental (1887); Old Ironsides (1926); On Parade (1892); On the Campus (1920); On the Tramp (1879); Our Flirtations (1880); The Pathfinder of Panama (1915); Pet of the Petticoats (1883); The Phoenix March (1875); The Picador (1889); Powhatan’s Daughter (1907); President Garfield’s Inauguration March (1881); The Pride of Pittsburgh (1901); The Pride of the Wolverines (1926); Prince Charming (1928); The Quilting Party March (1889); Recognition March (c. 1880); Resumption March (1879); Review (1873; his first publ. march); Revival March (1876); Riders for the Flag (1927); The Rifle Regiment (1886); Right Forward (1881); Right—Left (1883); The Royal Welch Fusiliers (No. 1, 1929; No. 2, 1930); Sable and Spurs (1918); Salutation (1873); The Salvation Army (1930); Semper Fidelis (1888); Sesquicentennial Exposition March (1926); Solid Men to the Front (1918); Sound Off (1885); The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896; made the official march of the U.S. by act of Congress, 1987); The Thunderer (1889); Transit of Venus (1883); The Triton (1892); Triumph of Time (1885); Universal Peace (probably 1925); University of Illinois (1929); University of Nebraska (1928); USAAC March (1918); U.S. Field Artillery (1917); The Victory Chest (1918); The Volunteers (1918); The Washington Post (1889); Wedding March (1918); The White Plume (1884); The White Rose (1917); Who’s Who in Navy Blue (1920); The Wildcats (1930 or 1931); Wisconsin Forward Forever (1917); The Wolverine March (1881); Yorktown Centennial (1881 ). OTHER: Suites for Band; overtures; descriptive pieces; instrumental solos; orch. works; about 76 songs, ballads, hymns; many arrangements and transcriptions.
Writings
autobiographical: Through the Years with Sousa (1910); Marching Along (1928). manuals: The Trumpet and Drum (1886); National Patriotic and Typical Airs of All Lands (1890). NOVELS: The Fifth String (1902); Pipetown Sandy (1905); The Transit of Venus (1919).
Bibliography
M. Simon, J.P. S., the March King (N.Y., 1944); A. Lingg, J.P.S.(N.Y., 1954); K. Berger, The March King and His Band (NX, 1957); J. Smart, The S. Band: A Discography (Washington, D.C., 1970); W. Stacy, J.P. S. and His Band Suites: An Analytic and Cultural Study (diss., Univ. of Colo., 1972); P. Bierley, J.P. S.: American Phenomenon (N.Y., 1973; second ed., rev., 1986); idem, J.P. S.: A Descriptive Catalog of His Works (Urbana, 111., 1973; second ed., rev. and aug., 1984, as The Works of J.P. S.); J. Newsom, ed., Perspectives on J.P. S.(Washington, D.C., 1983); W. Mitziga, The Sound of S.: J.P. S. Compositions Recorded (Chicago, 1986).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire