![]() ![]() Sousa was enlisted under a minority enlistment, meaning that he would not be discharged until his 21st birthday. That same year, Sousa began studying music under George Felix Benkert. Sousa's father was a trombonist in the Marine Band, and he enlisted Sousa in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice at age 13 to keep him from joining a circus band. During this period, Sousa wrote his first composition, "An Album Leaf", but Esputa dismissed it as "bread and cheese", and the composition was subsequently lost. Esputa shared his father's bad temper, and the relationship between teacher and pupil was often strained, but Sousa progressed very rapidly and was also found to have perfect pitch. Sousa's real music education began in 1861 or 1862 as a pupil of John Esputa Jr., the son of his previous teacher under whom Sousa studied violin, piano, flute, several brass instruments, and singing. However, this was short-lived due to the teacher's frequent bad temper. Sousa began his music education under the tuition of John Esputa Sr., who taught him solfeggio. John Philip Sousa was born in Washington, D.C., the third of ten children of João António de Sousa (John Anthony Sousa) (September 22, 1824 – April 27, 1892), who was born in Spain to Portuguese parents, and his wife Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus (May 20, 1826 – August 25, 1908), who was German and from Bavaria. In the 1920s, Sousa was promoted to the permanent rank of lieutenant commander in the naval reserve. ![]() He then returned to conduct the Sousa Band until his death in 1932. ![]() Upon the outbreak of World War I, Sousa was awarded a wartime commission of lieutenant commander to lead the Naval Reserve Band in Illinois. He aided in the development of the sousaphone, a large brass instrument similar to the helicon and tuba. From 1880 until his death, Sousa focused exclusively on conducting and writing music. In 1880, he rejoined the Marine Band and served there for 12 years as director, after which Sousa was hired to conduct a band organized by David Blakely, P.S. He left the band in 1875, and over the next five years, Sousa performed as a violinist and learned to conduct. Sousa's father enlisted him in the United States Marine Band as an apprentice in 1868. Sousa began his career playing violin and studying music theory and composition under John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. Among Sousa's best-known marches are " The Stars and Stripes Forever" (National March of the United States of America), " Semper Fidelis" (official march of the United States Marine Corps), " The Liberty Bell", " The Thunderer", and " The Washington Post". He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart Kenneth J. As a composer he has dabbled in song cycles, smaller-scale choral works, and double-reed-themed diversions.John Philip Sousa ( / ˈ s uː z ə, ˈ s uː s ə/ SOO-zə, SOO-sə, Portuguese pronunciation: November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. Over the course of five summers at the Aspen Music Festival he studied bassoon and conducting at different times, the latter with Paul Vermel. He holds degrees from Boston University in bassoon and musicology, and a doctorate in conducting from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, where he studied with Frederik Prausnitz. His teachers included among others Leonard Sharrow and Sherman Walt, former principals of the Chicago and Boston Symphonies respectively. Keen listeners may notice a brief reference to the old barbershop standard “Sweet Adeline.”īassoonist, conductor, and composer William Spencer began his serious musical studies on bassoon at age 12 (after a few years of piano lessons had no apparent effect whatsoever). The Sousa is so well-known that I hardly like to suggest how to approach this admittedly somewhat light-hearted arrangement, but I encourage (as far as is practical) a nice peppy overall tempo, and careful attention to the balance of the different lines, since the tune keeps escaping from one part and ending up in another. For four bassoons and contrabassoon (or five bassoons)īy John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) - American composer, the "March King" ![]()
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