John Philip Sousa is the perfect
composer to talk about during the week we celebrate Independence Day in
America. Born in Washington DC in 1854, Sousa was raised surrounded by band
music. His father played trombone in the U.S. Marine Band and young Sousa began
learning band instruments, as well as the violin, by the age of six! When he
tried to run away and join a circus band as a teenager, his father found him
and put him in the Marine Band.
At age 21, Sousa left the Marine Band
and went on to perform violin and conduct theater orchestras. After marrying
his wife several years later, he returned to DC to become the Marine Band
leader. He conducted the band for twelve years before starting up his own band,
The Sousa Band. With this band, Sousa traveled the world, spreading patriotism
wherever he performed. While he did write several operettas, Sousa is mainly
remembered for his band music.
“The Stars and Stripes Forever” is
perhaps his most famous march and has become symbolic of America and the flag.
He wrote the march while feeling homesick on a voyage home from Europe. The
piece was such a hit that most people expected to hear it at every Sousa Band
concert. It’s ironic that “The Stars and Stripes Forever” ended up being the
last piece Sousa conducted before passing away in 1932.
