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John Philip Sousa
Jacob Demes
Room 304
7th Grade
1/3/12
John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, D.C., on November 6, 1854 to John Antonio
Sousa and Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus. Sousa started his music education at age six by playing the
violin as a student of John Esputa and George Felix Benkert for harmony and musical
composition.
At age 13 his father enlisted him in the U.S. Marine Band as an apprentice after
he attempted to run away to join a circus band. He was then honorably discharged from the
marines on December 31 1871.A few years after serving his apprenticeship, Sousa joined a
theatrical orchestra where he learned to conduct. He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as its head
in 1880 and remained as its conductor until 1892.
In February, John met Jane van Middlesworth Bellis during Pinafore rehearsals
and they married on December 3 1879. One year after he left The U.S. Marine Band he formed
The Sousa Band. The first Sousa Band concert was performed September 26 at Stillman Music
Hall in Plainfield, New Jersey. The Sousa Band toured from 1892–1931, performing at 15,623
concerts.
John Philip Sosa created many compositions in his lifetime and some of them are still
used by the U.S. now when the soldiers march in. His favorite compositions were marches for
wind band; he owned 136 works in this genre and they are all marked by optimism and vitality
As a kid, he enjoyed hearing the Civil War military bands that filled the streets of
Washington as well as the sounds of his father's trombone. His father played in the U.S. Marine
Band and Sousa quickly followed in his footsteps. One quote Sousa often used when making his
compositions was "turn my imagination loose among scenes of barbaric splendor. I picture to
myself the glitter of guns and swords, the tread of feet to the drum beat, and all that is grand and
glorious in military scenes." One of his most recognized pieces is “ The Stars and Stripes
Forever” he received inspiration for this song when Sousa and his wife were on a ship heading
home to New York. On the journey home, Sousa started hearing "the rhythmic beat of a band
playing within my brain. It kept on ceaselessly, playing, playing, and playing. Throughout the
whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and reechoing the most distinct melody." When he got home he wrote down the music for what would
become "The Stars and Stripes Forever." Sousa said the song was about the feeling of coming
home to America and how "in a foreign country the sight of the Stars and Stripes seems the most
glorious in the world." It seems that the things going on around him really invaded his
imagination such as the Civil War and World War 1
The Stars and Stripes Forever is the official march of the United States and it's John
Philip Sousa's most famous composition. Whenever he was conducting a presentation people
waited for the moment when this song would play. In fact Sousa died after conducting a
rehearsal of the song The Stars and Stripes Forever.
People saw Sousa as an exceptionally inventive composer of over two hundred works,
including symphonic poems, suites, songs and operettas created for both orchestra and for band.
John Philip Sousa truly was the innocent energy of turn-of-the-century America and he
represented America wherever he traveled. His American tours first brought classical music to
hundreds of towns that usually wouldn’t have availability to compositions of this sort. He was an
exceptional orchestral composer, conductor and violinist.
Bibliography
"A Brief Timeline of Sousa's Life." Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2013.
"The Stars and Stripes Forever." The Stars and Stripes Forever. America's
Library, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2013.
"The March King: John Philip Sousa." John Philip Sousa Timeline
(Performing Arts Encyclopedia, The Library of Congress). The Library of
Congress, n.d. Web. 03 Jan. 2013.