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Stars and Stripes Forever, The

Sousa, John Philip

The Stars and Stripes Forever by: John Philip Sousa

Original Copyright: 1897 By: John Church

BandMusic PDF Library

Chester Nettrower Collection

Music Committee Members Tom Pechnik, Senior Archivist; Mary Phillips; Wayne Dydo; Bill Park, Director

North Royalton, Ohio www.bandmusicpdf.org

Jo

hn P

hilip

Sou

sa

D

OB

: N

ovem

ber 6

th, 1

854

(Was

hing

ton,

DC

)

DO

D:

Mar

ch 6

th, 1

932

(Rea

ding

, PA

)

John

Phi

lip S

ousa

wro

te th

e m

ost f

amou

s Am

eric

an m

ilitar

y m

arch

es o

f all

time,

incl

udin

g "S

tars

and

Stri

pes

Fore

ver,"

ea

rnin

g hi

m th

e ni

ckna

me

"the

Mar

ch K

ing"

; he

was

als

o kn

own

as a

gre

at b

andl

eade

r, an

d or

gani

zed

the

fam

ed

conc

ert a

nd m

ilitar

y gr

oup,

Sou

sa's

Ban

d. B

orn

in W

ashi

ngto

n,

D.C

., on

Nov

embe

r 6, 1

854,

Sou

sa fo

llow

ed in

the

foot

step

s of

hi

s fa

ther

, a m

usic

ian

in th

e U

.S. M

arin

e C

orps

, and

enl

iste

d by

th

e ag

e of

14.

Bef

ore

this

, Sou

sa h

ad s

tudi

ed v

iolin

with

Joh

n E

sput

a. W

hile

act

ive

in th

e M

arin

es, h

e co

mpo

sed

his

first

mar

ch, "

Salu

tatio

n."

Star

s an

d St

ripe

s Fo

reve

r (m

arch

) is

con

side

red

the

fines

t m

arch

eve

r w

ritte

n, a

nd a

t th

e sa

me

time

one

of t

he m

ost

patr

iotic

eve

r co

ncei

ved.

As

rep

orte

d in

the

Phi

lade

lphi

a Pu

blic

Led

ger (

May

15,

18

97)

“ ...

It i

s st

irrin

g en

ough

to r

ouse

the

Amer

ican

eag

le fr

om h

is c

rag,

and

set

him

to s

hrie

k ex

ulta

ntly

whi

le h

e hu

rls h

is a

rrow

s at

the

auro

ra b

orea

lis.”

(re

ferr

ing

to t

he c

once

rt t

he S

ousa

Ban

d ga

ve t

he p

revi

ous

day

at t

he A

cade

my

of M

usic

).1

The

mar

ch w

as n

ot q

uite

so

wel

l rec

eive

d th

ough

and

act

ually

got

an

over

ave

rage

rat

ing

for

a ne

w

Sous

a m

arch

. Ye

t, it

s po

pula

rity

grew

as

Mr.

Sou

sa u

sed

it du

ring

the

Span

ish-

Amer

ican

War

as

a co

ncer

t cl

oser

. Co

uple

d w

ith h

is T

roop

ing

of th

e Co

lors

, th

e m

arch

qui

ckly

gai

ned

a vi

goro

us

resp

onse

fro

m a

udie

nces

and

crit

ics

alik

e.

In f

act,

audi

ence

s ro

se f

rom

the

ir ch

airs

whe

n th

e m

arch

w

as p

laye

d.

Mr.

Sou

sa a

dded

to

the

ente

rtai

nmen

t va

lue

of t

he m

arch

by

havi

ng t

he p

icco

lo(s

) lin

e up

in f

ront

of

the

band

for

the

fin

al t

rio, a

nd t

hen

adde

d th

e tr

umpe

ts a

nd t

rom

bone

s jo

in t

hem

on

the

final

rep

eat

of t

he s

trai

n.

The

mar

ch w

as p

erfo

rmed

on

alm

ost

all o

f M

r. S

ousa

’s c

once

rts

and

alw

ays

drew

tea

rs t

o th

e ey

es o

f th

e au

dien

ce.

The

auth

or h

as n

oted

the

sam

e em

otio

nal r

espo

nse

of a

udie

nces

to

the

mar

ch t

oday

. Th

e m

arch

has

bee

n na

med

as

the

natio

nal m

arch

of

The

Uni

ted

Stat

es.

Ther

e ar

e tw

o co

mm

enta

ries

of h

ow t

he m

arch

was

insp

ired.

Th

e fir

st c

ame

as t

he r

esul

t of

an

inte

rvie

w o

n M

r. S

ousa

’s p

atrio

tism

. Ac

cord

ing

to M

r. S

ousa

, the

mar

ch w

as w

ritte

n w

ith t

he

insp

iratio

n of

God

.

1 R

esea

rch

done

by

Eliz

abet

h H

artm

an, h

ead

of th

e m

usic

dep

artm

ent,

Free

Lib

rary

of P

hila

delp

hia.

Ta

ken

from

Joh

n P

hilip

Sou

sa, D

escr

iptiv

e C

atal

og o

f His

Wor

ks (P

aul E

. Bie

rley,

Uni

vers

ity o

f Ill

inoi

s P

ress

, 197

3, p

age

71)

“I w

as in

Eur

ope

and

I go

t a c

able

gram

that

my

man

ager

was

dea

d. I

was

in I

taly

and

I w

ishe

d to

ge

t hom

e as

soo

n as

pos

sibl

e, I

rus

hed

to G

enoa

, the

n to

Par

is a

nd to

Eng

land

and

sai

led

for

Amer

ica.

On

boar

d th

e st

eam

er a

s I

wal

ked

mile

s up

and

dow

n th

e de

ck, b

ack

and

fort

h, a

men

tal

band

was

pla

ying

‘Sta

rs a

nd S

trip

es F

orev

er.’

Day

afte

r da

y as

I w

alke

d it

pers

iste

d in

cra

shin

g in

to

my

very

sou

l. I

wro

te it

on

Chris

tmas

Day

, 189

6.”2

Pro

gram

not

e re

sear

ched

by

Mar

cus

L. N

eim

an

Med

ina,

Ohi

o

Add

ition

al in

form

atio

n on

eith

er th

e co

mpo

ser o

r com

posi

tion

wou

ld b

e w

elco

med

. P

leas

e se

nd

info

rmat

ion

to

mar

cusn

eim

an@

zoom

inte

rnet

.net

2 T

aken

from

pro

gram

not

es fo

r the

wee

k be

ginn

ing

Aug

ust 1

9th,

192

3. B

ierle

y, J

ohn

Phi

lip S

ousa

, pa

ge 7

1.

Cou

rtesy

of t

he N

orth

Roy

alto

n (O

hio)

Com

mun

ity B

and

Dig

ital L

ibra

ry

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