Title | Stars And Stripes Forever, The | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Composer | Sousa, John Philip |
Marshall’s Civic Band Topeka, KS Est’d 1884 |
Number | M-288 |
Type | CB | |||
Date | 1897 | |||
Key | Eb | |||
Arranger | None | Length | 0.00 | |
Publisher | John Church | Vocal | No | |
Association | Grade/Difficulty | ?/? | ||
Last Performed | Unknown | |||
Manuscript | No | |||
Style | March | Location | Marshall's Band Library | |
Cataloger | Perry Hartman | |||
Date Cataloged | 07/01/1993 | |||
Notes |
Composed in 1896. "With the possible exception of 'The Star Spangled Banner,' no musical composition has done more to arouse the patriotic spirit of America than this, John Philip Sousa's most beloved composition. It is sometimes taken to be the national march of the United States, although it has never officially been so designated. Symbolic of flag-waving in general, it has been used with considerable effectiveness to generate patriotic feeling ever since its introduction in Philadelphia on May 14, 1897, when the staid 'Public Ledger' reported: '...It is stirring enough to rouse the American eagle from his crag, and set him to shriek exultantly while he hurls his arrows at the aurora borealis.' Aside from this flowery review, the march's reception was only slightly above average for a new Sousa march. It grew gradually in public acceptance, and with the advent of the Spanish-American War the nation suddenly needed such patriotic music. Capitalizing on this situation, Sousa used it with maximum effect to climax his moving pageant, 'The Trooping of the Colors'. "'The Stars and Stripes Forever' had found its place in history. There was a vigorous response wherever it was performed, and audiences began to rise as though it were the national anthem. This became traditional at Sousa Band concerts. It was his practice to have the cornets, trumpets, trombones, and piccolos line up at the front of the stage for the final trio, and this added to the excitement. Many bands still perform the piece this way. "With the passing years the march has endeared itself to the American people. The sight of Sousa conducting his own great band in this most glorious composition always triggered an emotional response. The piece was expected - and sometimes openly demanded - at every concert of the Sousa Band. Usually it was played unanounced as an encore. Many former Sousa Band members have stated that they could not recall a concert in which it was not played, and that they too were inspired by looking into the misty eyes of those in the audience. That the players never tired of it is surely a measure of its greatness. "Sousa was very emotional in speaking of his own patriotism. When asked why he composed this march, he would insist that its strains were divinely inspired. In a Sousa Band program at Willow Grove we find this account: Someone asked, 'Who influenced you to compose 'Stars and Stripes Forever,' and before the question was hardly asked, Sousa replied, 'God - and I say this in all reverence! I was in Europe and I got a cablegram that my manager was dead. I was in Italy and I wished to get home as soon as possible. I rushed to Genoa, then to Paris and to England and sailed for America. On board the steamer as I walked miles up and down the deck, back and forth, a mental band was playing 'Stars and Stripes Forever.' Day after day as I walked it persisted in crashing into my very soul. I wrote it on Christmas Day, 1896'" (the text continues...) The Works of John Philip Sousa pgs. 84-89 Paul E. Bierley Integrity Press 1984 |
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