Sousa!

The Semper Fidelis
Life of the March King
American History Museum

2022

American
History
Museum

“Anybody can write music of a sort.
But touching the public heart
is quite another thing.”

Who was this man who
became an American
musical legend during
his own lifetime with such hits
as “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
and “The Liberty Bell”?
John Philip Sousa was
born on November 6,
1854, at 636 G Street,
SE, Washington, D.C.,
near the Marine Barracks
where his father played
the trombone while in
the U.S. Marine Band.
John Philip was the third
of 10 children of John
Antonio Sousa, who
was born in Spain of
Portuguese parents,
and Maria Elisabeth
Trinkhaus, born in
Bavaria. Young John
Philip grew up entirely
surrounded by military
band music, and when
he was just six, he began
studying voice, violin,
piano, flute, cornet,
baritone, trombone
and alto horn. By all
accounts, John Philip was
an adventure-loving boy,
and when at the age of 13
he tried to run away
to join a circus band,
his father instead enlisted
him in the Marine Band
as a band apprentice.
It was during his years
in the Marines that Sousa
wrote his very first
composition, “Moonlight
on the Potomac Waltzes.”
Discharged from the
Marines in 1875, the
21-year-old Sousa began
performing on violin,
touring and then
eventually conducting
theater orchestras,
including Gilbert &
Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore
on Broadway.
In 1879, Sousa met
Jane van Middlesworth
Bellis, and they married
on December 30, 1879.
Just a year later,
the couple returned
to Washington, D.C.,
where Sousa assumed
leadership of the U.S.
Marine Band. Over the
next 12 years, Sousa
conducted the band The
President’s Own, serving
under Presidents Hayes,
Garfield, Cleveland,
Arthur and Harrison.

Sousa’s Silver Baton
A phonograph
The ladies of the White House were always
interested in the music, and frequently
suggested selections for the programme,
Mrs. Hayes being particularly fond of American
ballads. During the brief Garfield administration
there were no state receptions or dinners given
by the President, and the band did not play at the
White House, except for a few of Mrs. Garfield’s
receptions immediately after the inauguration. While
Mrs. McElroy was mistress of the Executive Mansion
for her brother, President Arthur, the lighter music
was much in favor, as there were always many young
people at the Mansion. Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveland
was much interested in music, and evinced a partiality
for Arthur Sullivan’s melodies. Mrs. Harrison’s favorite
music was Nevin’s “Good Night, Beloved” and the Sousa
marches. The soundness of Mrs. Cleveland’s musical
taste was shown by her liking for the “Tannhauser”
overture and other music of that character.
“The Marine Band played all the music for President
Cleveland’s wedding, which took place in the Blue
Room of the White House. The distance from the room
up-stairs to the exact spot where the ceremony was
to take place was carefully measured by Colonel
Lamont and myself, in order that the music might
be timed to the precise number of steps the wedding
party would have to take; and the climax of the
Mendelssohn “Wedding March” was played by the band
just as the bride and groom reached the clergyman.”
Sousa first received acclaim in military band circles.

“Remember always th
is still mightier than the b
lie all the possibilities

at the composer’s pen
ow of the violinist; in you
of the creation of beauty.”

From 1900 to 1910,
the Sousa Band
toured the U.S.,
Europe, Great Britain,
the Canary Islands,
in the South Pacific,
strengthening
its growing reputation
as the most admired
American band of its time.
After World War I, Sousa
continued to tour with his
band while championing
the cause of music
education for all children.
He also received several
honorary degrees and
fought for composers’
rights, testifying before
Congress in 1927 and
1928. Sousa’s last
appearance before the
Marine Band was on the
occasion of the Carabao
Wallow of 1932 in
Washington, D.C. Sousa
as a distinguished guest,
rose from the speaker’s
table, took the baton from
Captain Taylor
Branson, the band’s
director, and led the band
in “The Stars and Stripes
Forever.” Later that
year, after conducting a
rehearsal of the Ringgold
Band in Reading, Pa.,
the 77-year old Sousa
passed away. The last
piece Sousa had
rehearsed with the band
was “The Stars and
Stripes Forever.”
In addition to hundreds
of marches, Sousa also
wrote 10 operas and
a number of musical
suites. He had many
talents aside from music,
authoring three novels
and a full-length autobiography,
as well as a
number of articles and
letters-to-the-editor on
a variety of subjects.
Sousa is not 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 17th
leader, in 1974,
the Marine Band then
rededicated its
historic band hall
at Marine Barracks as
John Philip Sousa Band
Hall. The bell from the
S.S. John Philip Sousa,
a World War II Liberty
ship, is there. In 1976,
Sousa was enshrined in
the Hall of Fame for Great
Americans in a ceremony
at the John F. Kennedy
Center for the Performing
Arts in Washington, D.C.
And in 1987, “The Stars
and Stripes Forever”
was designated as the
national march of the
United States. A White
House memorandum
states that the march has
become “an integral part
of the celebration of the
American life.”

14 th Street & Constitution Avenue,
NW Washington, DC
for educational purposes only