“The glory of Mr. Sousa is that he was the first to write in this style; that he has made himself a style; that he so stirred the musical world that countless imitations have sprung up after him.”
The quote above is from the attached profile of American composer John Philip Sousa (1854 – 1932) and it was written shortly after the man’s triumphal return from Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, where Sousa was feted like a native son for all his glorious march compositions; particularly “The Washington Post March”, which was performed while her household infantry passed in review:
“There is probably no composer in the world with a popularity equal to that of Mr. Sousa. Tho he sold his ‘Washington Post’ march outright for $35.00, his ‘Liberty Bell’ march is said to have brought him $35,000…At the age of twenty-six Mr. Sousa became the leader of the United States Marine Corps Band. In the twelve years of his leadership,he developed this unimportant organization into one of the best military bands in the world.”
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