john philip sousa “the march king” 1854 - 1932 77 years old
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JOHN PHILIP SOUSA “The March King” 1854 - 1932 77 years old. Sousa began playing the violin at six years-old. He had perfect pitch. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
JOHN PHILIP SOUSA“The March King”
1854 - 1932 77 years old
Sousa began playing the violin at six years-old. He had perfect pitch.
When Sousa was 13 years-old, his father, a trombonist in the Marine Band, enlisted
his son in the US Marine Corps as an apprentice to keep John from joining a
circus band.
While John was an apprentice for seven years, he learned to play all of
the wind instruments while perfecting his violin skills.
John Philip Sousa married Jane van Middlesworth Bellis in 1879
and had three children.
Sousa left his apprenticeship to join a pit orchestra for a theater where he
learned to conduct.
John Philip Sousa returned to the US Marine Band as its conductor in 1880
for 12 years.
Sousa organized his own band the year he left the Marine Band in 1892.
They performed 15,623 concerts in the next 29 years.
Sousa did not approve of the recorded music industry. He thought
that people would lose their vocal chords in the process of evolution like
apes losing their tails. John missed seeing people on their steps singing
the old songs. John refused to conduct for recordings. He called
recorded music “canned music.”
Soussa died of a heart attack at the age of 77 years old. He had been living in Sands Point, New York.
John Philip Sousa’s other talents:
• wrote 3 novels• a skilled horseman• a connoisseur of cheese• Trap shooter, included in the Trap shooter
Hall of Fame
John Philip Sousathe “March King,”
wrote 136 marches,
and the music to 9 operettas.
Sousa’s Music
1888 Semper Fidelis(Always Faithful)
March of the Marine Corps
1888 in History
• Sousa wrote Semper Fidelis
• The Great Blizzard of 1888 in the Eastern U.S.
• Vincent van Gogh cuts off his ear
1889 Washington Post March
1889 in History• Sousa writes the Washington Post March
• Slave rebels take over the slave ship Amistad
1889 Stars and Stripes Forever
1896 in History
• Sousa writes Stars and Stripes Forever
• First movie theater opens, 10 cents for admission
In the 1890’s, Sousa requested that a
Sousaphone be developed. The sousaphone is known
as a marching tuba. It coils around the player
with the bell pointing forward so that the tone may be heard above the
band.
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and
conductor of the late Romantic Era.
He was known mostly for his American military and patriotic
marches, which gave him the name “The March King.”