| "The Washington Post" | |
|---|---|
| March by John Philip Sousa | |
 Cover of the 1889 sheet music for "The Washington Post" | |
| Composed | 1889 |
| Audio sample | |
The United States Marine Band performs "The Washington Post" | |
"The Washington Post" (often called "The Washington Post March") is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. Since then, it has remained as one of his most popular marches throughout the United States and many other countries.
In 1888, the recent purchasers of The Washington Post newspaper—Frank Hatton, a former Postmaster General, and Beriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio—requested that Sousa, the leader of the United States Marine Band, compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony, in conjunction with a campaign to promote the newspaper under new ownership. Sousa obliged; "The Washington Post" was introduced at a ceremony on June 15, 1889, "with President Benjamin Harrison in attendance" before "a huge crowd on the grounds of the Smithsonian Museum". [1] It quickly became quite popular in both the United States and Europe [1] [2] as the standard musical accompaniment to the two-step, a late 19th-century dance craze. [3] This led to a British journalist dubbing Sousa "The March King". Sousa is honored in The Washington Post building for his contribution to the newspaper and his country.
The composition is in the public domain in the US, as its copyright has expired, due to Sousa's death more than 70 years ago and its publication before the early 1920s.
During the award ceremony the young essay-contest winners were presented with gold medals that were hand-crafted by local jewelers Galt & Bro., with each having unique designs and custom engravings. [4]
This recognizable march is written in standard form: IAABBCCDCDC. Written in compound duple meter, it is suited as an accompaniment to the two-step, a new dance introduced at that time.
The opening strain of the march is famous and familiar to many. Typically, the march is played at a tempo of 110 to 120 beats per minute, rarely any faster.
March enthusiasts have argued that the trio sections' mellow and moving phrases are among Sousa's most musical. Six sudden eighth notes move the melody along. Its unusually calm break strain is a simple adaptation of the trio melody. It then moves on to the first trio repeat, where the low brass begins an even more mellow countermelody.
The "two-step" became so strongly identified with Sousa's march that the dance was often called "The Washington Post". In addition, many performance arts groups around the world dance to the famous song. [5]
Although many recordings of this march have been made over the years, the original recording of the march played by the United States Marine Band, conducted by Sousa's concertmaster, [6] was made on Graphophone cylinder for the fledgling Columbia Records company in Washington, D.C., in 1890, catalogue Columbia Cylinder Military #8. It has been reissued in the compact disc era in 1999 by Legacy International as March King: John Philip Sousa Conducts His Own Marches, and as the earliest track of its 26-disc compendium of the history of the Columbia label, Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack For A Century . In 1893, this march was recorded on North American Phonograph Company cylinder #613 by Foh's 23rd Regiment Band of New York. This acoustical recording, unlike many others, has audible, clear, well-recorded drums. [7]
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to distinguish him from his British counterpart Kenneth J. Alford. Among Sousa's best-known marches are "The Stars and Stripes Forever", "Semper Fidelis", "The Liberty Bell", "The Thunderer", and "The Washington Post".
American march music is march music written and/or performed in the United States. Its origins are those of European composers borrowing from the military music of the Ottoman Empire in place there from the 16th century. The American genre developed after the British model during the colonial and Revolutionary periods, then later as military ceremonials and for civilian entertainment events.
"The Liberty Bell" (1893) is an American military march composed by John Philip Sousa.
The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in the United States. Today, the Marine Band includes the Marine Chamber Orchestra and Marine Chamber Ensembles.
The Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph. It was invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C., United States.
The United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps is the drum and bugle corps of the United States Marine Corps. The D&B is now the only active duty drum and bugle corps in the United States Armed Forces. One of many United States military bands, the United States Marine Drum & Bugle Corps usually consists of about 70 active-duty Marines dressed in ceremonial red and white uniforms. The D&B performs martial and popular music.
"National Emblem", also known as the National Emblem March, is a U.S. march composed in 1902 and published in 1906 by Edwin Eugene Bagley. It is a standard of the U.S. march repertoire, appearing in eleven published editions. The U.S. military uses the trio section as ceremonial music for the entry of the ceremony's official party.
The United States Navy Band, based at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., has served as the official musical organization of the U.S. Navy since 1925. The U.S. Navy Band serves the ceremonial needs at the seat of U.S. government, performing at presidential inaugurations, state arrival ceremonies, state funerals, state dinners, and other significant events.
A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's Götterdämmerung to the brisk military marches of John Philip Sousa and the martial hymns of the late 19th century. Examples of the varied use of the march can be found in Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, in the Marches Militaires of Franz Schubert, in the Marche funèbre in Chopin's Sonata in B flat minor, the "Jäger March" in the Op. 91a by Jean Sibelius, and in the Dead March in Handel's Saul.
"The Thunderer" is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. The origin of the name is not officially known, though it is speculated that the name is attributed to Myron M. Parker, a prominent DC politician and Freemason. It is also one of Sousa's most famous compositions.
Stars and Stripes Forever is a 1952 American Technicolor film biography of the late-19th-/early-20th-century composer and band leader John Philip Sousa. This 20th Century Fox feature was produced by Lamar Trotti, directed by Henry Koster, and stars Clifton Webb, Debra Paget, Robert Wagner, and Ruth Hussey. The film's title is taken from Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever", which has become the best known of his military marches. The film was released twenty years after Sousa's death.
"The High School Cadets" is a march written in 1890 by John Philip Sousa in honor of the cadet drill team of Washington High School in the District of Columbia. It is in regimental march form (I-AA-BB-CC-DD) and is a popular selection for school concert and marching bands, as well as for professional orchestras and bands. The march has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles, and has been frequently recorded, including at least two recorded performances by Sousa's own band. The march's final strains were featured in the 1939 film The Under-Pup.
"Semper Fidelis", written in 1888 by John Philip Sousa, is regarded as the official march of the United States Marine Corps. This piece was one of two composed in response to a request from United States President Chester A. Arthur for a new piece to be associated with the United States President. The words semper fidelis are Latin for "always faithful." The piece was created for a wind band in addition to a percussion section. There is a very prominent drum solo in the middle of the piece which includes a skillful dynamic change. It features staccato notes and sharp tonguing.
Edward Denison Easton was the founder and president of the Columbia Phonograph Company. Under Easton's leadership, Columbia developed from one of many regional subsidiaries of the North American Phonograph Company, which, along with Edison Records and Victor Talking Machine Co., was one of the nation's three largest record companies of the early 20th century.
Jason K. Fettig is a band director, conductor, and former Marine colonel who currently works as Director of Bands at the University of Michigan. Before his hiring, he served as the 28th director of the United States Marine Band and music adviser to the President of the United States.
The John Philip Sousa Baton is a conducting baton originally presented to John Philip Sousa upon his resignation as the director of the United States Marine Band. After his death, it was donated to the Marine Band, and since it has been traditionally passed to the new director from the outgoing director of the band during the change of command ceremonies.
"Nobles of the Mystic Shrine" is a march composed by John Philip Sousa upon the request of his nephew, A. R. Varela. Sousa dedicated the march to the Almas Temple and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. It was first conducted in June 1923, with a band of around 6,200 members—the largest Sousa had ever conducted. It is one of the few Sousa marches with the first strain written in the minor mode. Contemporary versions of the march recorded by the Ottoman military band also use the Jingling Johnny in the final strain.
Boy Scouts of America is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1916 upon the request of Charles D. Hart. Sousa dedicated it to the Boy Scouts of America. It was premiered in October 1916 at the Metropolitan Opera House. The cover sheet features a photograph of a statuette R. Tait McKenzie's The Ideal Scout. It is considered one of the best marches Sousa ever composed, with The Reading Times writing that the march proved that the "noted composer still retains the name of 'March King'".
"The Dauntless Battalion" is an American military march by John Philip Sousa, published in 1922 and dedicated to the faculty and cadets of the Pennsylvania Military College (PMC) in Chester, Pennsylvania, known since 1972 as Widener University. Sousa received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from the college in February 1920. Ohio senator and future president Warren G. Harding was also honored with an honorary degree.
