Posted on 11/06/2011 11:14:36 AM PST by EveningStar
John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, DC. He composed not only marches - for which he was famous, but other works, including classical works.
Stars and Stripes Forever is his most famous march but personally I prefer Hands Across the Sea, High School Cadets, and The Fairest of the Fair.
ping
I have an old cassette tape of Sousa Marches somewhere. I remember after listening to it a few times, some of the lesser known ones were just as good as the more famous ones.
His band once performed at the Chautauqua Hall in my hometown of DeFuniak Springs, FL. There was some question of how a Northern band would be accepted in the deep South. Sousa led off with Dixie and that was all it took, they loved him from then on.
Blow it out your horn, JP!!!!
Slightly off topic, but this brings back memories of old Washington Post radio commercials. They used to play the “Washington Post March” by Sousa as the theme music for the commercials.
I still remember the Post’s old phone number:
Republic 7-1234.
Didn’t he also invent the Sousaphone? The predecessor of the cell phone.
The greatest trap-shooter ever:
“Let me say that just about the sweetest music to me is when I call, ‘pull,’ the old gun barks, and the referee in perfect key announces, ‘dead’.”
I don’t know if he was the greatest trap shooter or just a very good one. I do know one shotgun maker had a very nice model, I think it was their most expensive one called “Sousa Grade”.
Nice to share a birthday with someone so famous. My Mother’s high school band director actually played in one of Sousa’s bands.
I have a boxed set of CDs celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Marine Band. It includes some early cylinder recordings conducted by Sousa himself. Kinda cool to listen to.
I thought Robert Walker invented the Sousaphone in the movie STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER starring Clifton Webb as Sousa.
Great movie, BTW.
I can’t help but think that Mike Judge named one of his “King of the Hill” characters (an All-American wind instrument of sorts) in honor of the instrument named after Sousa.
http://kingofthehill.wikia.com/wiki/Kahn_Souphanousinphone
At one event the band was led by guest conductor John Philip Sousa. Probably around 1925 or 1926.
In an unrelated story, my father around that time was waiting for a bus on a street corner in Boston. A dog walked up, lifted his leg and whizzed on my father's French horn. Everyone's a critic...
Dear Eveningstar,
Thanks for the ping!
Classical music ping list ping!
If you want on or off this list, please let me know via FR e-mail.
Thanks,
sitetest
Thank you John Phillip Sousa for your gifts to America! My favorites: Stars and Stripes Forever and Semper Fidelis. Love the others as well. Most Sousa’s marches are so uniformly good that I sometimes have difficulty identifying one from another. I have the same problem with Strauss waltzes.
I have a cassette of Sousa marches by the band of the Coldstream Guards. Some of the best renditions going.
Mine is by “The Boston Pops”, probably not the very best but still pretty good.
JPS - an amazing, creative genius. I was astounded when becoming aware of the vast body of work by this man. I have several albums and a collection retrieved from musical sources. I am never tired of listening to them.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.