The Liberty Bell

John Philip Sousa

"The Liberty Bell" march is better known in the public mind than most other Sousa marches because of its use as theme music by the British comedy troupe Monty Python.

For $500 more, this march probably would have been named "The Devil's Deputy." Sousa was composing music for an operetta of that name at the request of the famous comedian Francis Wilson. Sousa asked $1500 for the work, but Wilson offered $1000. When they could not come to an agreement, Sousa withdrew his partially completed manuscript, which included a lively march. Sousa and George Frederick Hinton, one of the band's managers, were in Chicago witnessing a spectacle called America when a backdrop, with a huge painting of the liberty bell, was lowered. Hinton suggested the The Liberty Bell would be a good title for Sousa's new march.

By coincidence, the next morning Sousa received a letter from his wife in which she told him that their son had marched in his first parade in Philadelphia -- a parade honoring the return of the Liberty Bell, which had been on tour. The new march was then christened The Liberty Bell. According to a story told by the Sousa Band's first soprano, Marcella Lindh, she contributed one of the themes of the march. Sousa had heard her whistling a catchy tune of her own and had asked her permission to incorporate it into one of his marches. Several years later she heard The Liberty Bell march being performed by a band in Europe and recognized her own melody in the march.

John Philip Sousa (1854 - 1932) was America's best known composer and conductor during his lifetime. Highly regarded for his military band marches, Sousa is often called the "The March King" or "American March King".

Sousa started his music education, playing the violin, and learning harmony and musical composition at the age of six. When Sousa reached the age of 13, his father enlisted him as as an apprentice of the United States Marine Corps. Sousa served his apprenticeship for seven years, until 1875, and apparently learned to play all the wind instruments while also continuing with the violin. Sousa left his apprenticeship to join a theatrical (pit) orchestra where he learned to conduct.

He returned to the U.S. Marine Band as its head in 1880, and remained as its conductor until 1892. He organized his own band the year he left the Marine Band. The Sousa Band toured 1892-1931, performing 15,623 concerts in America and abroad. Sousa wrote 136 independent marches, while a host of other marches and dances have been adapted from his stage works.

Despite the genre's relatively limited structure, Sousa's marches are highly varied in character. The vast majority are in the quickstep dance style and a third of their titles bear military designations. His earlier marches are best suited for actual marching, while later works are increasingly complex. His most famous march is “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Last updated on July 28, 2024 by Palatine Concert Band