author
John Philip Sousa
1854–1932
Best known as the "March King," he helped shape the sound of American patriotic music with spirited favorites like The Stars and Stripes Forever and Semper Fidelis. His career as a bandleader and composer made him one of the most recognizable musical figures of his time.
3 Audiobooks
The Fifth String
by John Philip Sousa
The Fifth String
by John Philip Sousa
The Experiences of a Bandmaster
by John Philip Sousa
About the author
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1854, he grew up close to military band music through his father, a trombonist in the U.S. Marine Band. That early world of parades, ceremony, and public performance stayed with him and helped define the music he would later become famous for.
He served as director of the U.S. Marine Band from 1880 to 1892 and then led his own enormously popular Sousa Band. Along the way he wrote marches that became lasting standards, including The Washington Post, Semper Fidelis, The Liberty Bell, and The Stars and Stripes Forever, earning his enduring nickname, the "March King."
But he was more than a composer of marches. He also wrote operettas and other concert works, toured widely, and became a major public face of American band music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He died in 1932, but his music still carries the energy, precision, and showmanship that made him famous.