Music: John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa, “The March King,” helped musicians gain rights to music, and made American history with the march “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Sousa isn’t thought about by most modern people, however musicians think of Sousa as a hero. Musicians can create a piece and not have to worry about the piece getting stolen, or misused by other people. Sousa also requested an instrument that changed the marching band field. Sousa was a great band leader, a great musician, and an important part of music history.

Sousa was born on November 6, 1854 at a small place on 636 G Street, in southeast Washington D.C., near the Marine Barracks that would later have some influence on his music. (Sousa) His father played trombone in the Marine Band. Sousa was the third of ten children from John Antonio Sousa and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhous. Young Sousa grew up around military band music, and when he was just 6, he began learning a variety of instruments, such as; violin and piano. He also played flute, cornet, baritone, trombone, and alto horn. (Sousa)

Sousa started in the Marine Band in a rather peculiar way. Sousa, lusting for adventure, ran away from home and attempted to join a circus. Whereas Sousa was trying to have fun, his father didn’t see it as a smart thing to do. Antonio, Sousa’s father, enlisted you Sousa in to the Marine Band, where he worked as a band apprentice. For all but a six month period, Sousa stayed in the band until he was twenty years old, he started writing his more popular songs after he left the band. As an addition to his musical training, Sousa studied music theory and composition, to better his education and help teach students, with George Felix Benkert, who was a noted Washington orchestra lea...

... middle of paper ...

...w in 1932, in Washington D.C.. Sousa was a distinguished guest, he rose from the table, and took the baton from Captain Taylor Branson, the band’s conductor, and led the band in “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Later that year, after conducting a rehearsal of the Ringhold Band in Reading, Pennsylvania, the seventy-seven year old Sousa died. The last piece that Sousa was rehearsing with the band was “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” (Sousa)

Sousa hasn’t been forgotten, on December 9, 1939, the new Pennsylvania Avenue Bridge across the Anacostia River in Washington D.C. was dedicated to the memory of John Philip Sousa. In a tribute to its seventeenth leader, in 1974, the Marine Band rededicated its historic band hall at the Marine Barracks as “John Philip Sousa Band Hall.” Overall, John Philip Sousa was a great band leader, and a superb part of music’s history. (Sousa)