• Name: John Philip Sousa
• Birthday: 11/06/1854
• Birth Place: Washington D.C.
• Died: 03/06/1932
• Place of Death: Reading, PA
• Period: Modern
• Genre: Classical

Title	Release
All-Time Favorites	2007
Marches/Incidental Music	2004
John Philip Sousa	2003
The United States Marine Band Performs Sousa Marches W	2003
The Spirit of America	2002
Wave the Flag	2002
American Marches [Delta]	2000
John Philip Sousa Conducts His Own Band: The March	2000
On Stage	2000
Red, White and Blue	2000
Sousa Conducts Sousa	2000
Stars and Stripes Forever [Marco Polo]	2000
The Liberty Bell	2000
March King: John Philip Sousa Conducts His Own Marches	1999
On Wings of Lightning	1999
The Stars and Stripes Forever [Delta]	1999
American's Favorite Marches	1997
Stars & Stripes Forever	1997
American Marches [Eclipse]	1996
Music Of	1996
Under the Double Eagle	1996
Greatest Marches	1995
The Best of John Philip Sousa	1995
Favorite American Marches	1994
Grand Sousa Marches	1991
15 Greatest Marches	1988
Hands Across the Sea, Vol. 2	1987
Dwellers in the Western World
Hands Across the Sea [Capitol]
Solid Men to the Front, Vol. 3
(2) Flags of Freedom, march for band	1995
(4) Mother Hubbard March, march for band	1995
(2) Tally-Ho!, overture for orchestra	1995
(3) The Last Days of Pompeii, suite for band	1995
The Royal Welch Fusiliers (No. 1), march for band	1990
(2) The Wolverine March, march for band	1995
(8) A Century of Progess, march for band	1994
A Rare Old Fellow, song for voice & piano
A Serenade in Seville, song for voice & band
Across the Danube, march for band	1973
(4) America First, march for band	1973
(3) Anchor and Star, march for band
(9) Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, march for band WA	1961
Ben Bolt, march for band	1973
Blue Ridge, I'm Coming Back to You, song for voice & piano
(2) Bonnie Annie Laurie, march for band
(4) Boy Scouts of America March, march for band
(13) Bullets and Bayonets, march for band WA	1960
(2) Chris and the Wonderful Lamp, operetta
(10) Comrades of the Legion, march for band	1986
(2) Congress Hall, march for band	1973
(4) Cubaland, suite for band	1988
(9) Daughters of Texas, march for band
(3) Désirée, operetta
(5) Dwellers of the Western World, suite for band	1996
(7) Easter Monday on the White House Lawn (from Tales of a Traveler), for band	1998
(98) El Capitan, march for band
(12) El Capitan, operetta
(3) Esprit de Corps, march for band
Forever and a Day, song for voice & band
(3) Foshay Tower Washington Memorial, march for band WA	1999
(6) From Maine to Oregon, march for band
Fugue on Yankee Doodle, for band (compiled & arr. by Keith Brion & Loras Schissel)
(7) George Washington Bicentennial March, march for band
(2) Globe and Eagle, march for band
(11) Golden Jubilee, march for band
(5) Guide Right, march for band
(38) Hail To the Spirit of Liberty, march for band
(68) Hands Across the Sea, march for band
(3) Harmonica Wizard, march for band	1973
Here's To Your Health, Sir!, for 2 trumpets & drums	1990
(2) Humoresque on Look for the Silver Lining, humoresque for band (after Kern)	1996
(4) Humoresque on Swanee, humoresque for band (after Gershwin)	1996
I Wonder, song for voice & band
(4) I've Made My Plans for the Summer, song for voice & band	1993
(11) Imperial Edward, march for band
(2) Impressions at the Movies, suite for band WA	1999
Intaglio Waltzes, waltz for band WA	2005
(19) Jack Tar, march for band
(6) Kansas Wildcats, march for band

American bandmaster and composer John Philip Sousa did more than anyone to elevate the status of the military wind band. Sousa's boyhood coincided with the American Civil War. The sounds of military bands were constantly in the air. His first musical training was on the violin, and his father instructed him on several wind instruments. At 13 the lure of a visiting circus was a powerful incentive for the boy to join up as a musician; however, his astute father, himself a bandsman, caught wind of the lad's intention and procured an apprenticeship in the Marine Corps Band for his son. It proved to be a happy move for all involved. The young musician sharpened his skills in that musical organization called the "President's own." He composed his first march , Salutation, at 16.

At 18, Sousa began to play violin in various theater orchestras. In 1880, Sousa was appointed leader of the Marine Corps Band, which he would serve for 12 years, under five presidents. He now began to hit his stride with his own marches , turning out such classics as Semper Fidelis, The Washington Post, The Thunderer, and High School Cadets. In 1892 Sousa, resigning his position with the Marine Corps, organized his own band, known simply as Sousa's Band. Through national, European, and world tours, the band's success was nothing short of a phenomenon, Sousa receiving many honors and decorations from the royal families of Great Britain and Europe.

He continued turning out his series of comic operas, including the highly successful El capitan (1895). From his pen flowed songs, symphonic poems, and more marches , this period seeing The Liberty Bell (1893), King Cotton (1895), Hands Across the Sea (1899) and, most notably, The Stars and Stripes Forever (1897).

With the entry of the United States into World War I, however, Sousa laid aside civilian activity and assumed command of all naval bands. In 1920, he reorganized his band and resumed touring. Sousa died while en route to conduct a high school band in Reading, PA.

Among his other achievements was his role as a founder of ASCAP. He also helped develop the sousaphone , a large tuba which features in parade bands. Ultimately, his compositions are his monument. But particularly it is the marches which endure. Sousa was not afraid to invest his marches with beautiful melody and unusual harmonies, placing them above being merely parade music. Sousa continued to explore within his chosen field until the end and many from his final decade such as The Gridiron Club and Sesquicentennial Exposition are remarkable for their inventiveness and vitality. The composer himself mused upon what constitutes the perfect march , stating that "it should make a man with a wooden leg step out." In virtually all of his creations in this field, Sousa passed this standard with flying colors. ~ Wayne Reisig, All Music Guide