{"id":845,"date":"2013-12-19T10:19:27","date_gmt":"2013-12-19T15:19:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/?p=845"},"modified":"2024-06-17T13:12:01","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T17:12:01","slug":"mystical-night-magical-tune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mystical-night-magical-tune\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystical night, magical tune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"John<\/a>
John Philip Sousa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Perhaps the most famous march composed by John Philip Sousa, the celebrated March King, is \u201cThe Stars and Stripes Forever,\u201d a tribute to the American flag<\/span><\/a>. One of the least-known aspects of the tune is that it originated on Christmas Day in a mysterious fashion.<\/p>\n

Sousa\u2019s childhood during the Civil War was marked by marches and music. His father played the trombone in the Marine band. In Washington, D.C., where he grew up, little John Philip heard many military bands parading along the streets.<\/p>\n

Eventually, Sousa followed in his father\u2019s footsteps by joining the Marines\u2019 musical unit, which he directed for a dozen years. In 1892, he formed his own band and toured the world, presenting not only compositions by Tchaikovsky and Wagner, but also ones he wrote.<\/p>\n

As a composer, he penned more than 130 marches, including \u201cSemper Fidelis,\u201d \u201cThe Washington Post,\u201d written for the newspaper, and \u201cThe Thunderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sheet<\/a>
Sheet music for Stars and Stripes Forever<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sousa\u2019s creations came from his studies, listening to other works and his own talent. But one of his marches, \u201cThe Stars and Stripes Forever,\u201d seemed to come to him mystically, almost wafting across the sea on Dec. 25, 1896.<\/p>\n

While touring in Europe, Sousa learned that a close friend, his manager David Blakely, had died, so he boarded a steamship to hurry across the Atlantic. In his autobiography, Sousa wrote: \u201c[I was] absorbed in thoughts of my manager\u2019s death\u2026.Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain. Throughout the whole tense voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distant melody.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In 1900 in Paris, Sousa’s band plays ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sousa also wrote lyrics to his march, including: \u201cLet martial note in triumph float\/And liberty extend its mighty hand\/A flag appears \u2018mid thunderous cheers,\/The banner of the Western land.\/<\/em>Hurrah for the flag of the free!\/May it wave as our standard forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The March King died in 1932, a day after rehearsing \u201cThe Stars and Stripes Forever\u201d with his band. In 1987, the melody \u2013 a Christmas gift that was written in tribute to his friend and his flag \u2013 was named the National March of the United States.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps the most famous march composed by John Philip Sousa, the celebrated March King, is \u201cThe Stars and Stripes Forever,\u201d a tribute to the American flag. One of the least-known aspects of the tune is that it originated on Christmas Day in a mysterious fashion. Sousa\u2019s childhood during the Civil War was marked by marches… continue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10,166,43,3,165,19],"class_list":["post-845","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history-lessons","tag-american-flag","tag-christmas","tag-civil-war","tag-history","tag-john-philip-sousa","tag-patriotism"],"yoast_head":"\nMystical night, magical tune - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettysburgflag.com\/blog\/mystical-night-magical-tune\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mystical night, magical tune - Gettysburg Flag Works Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Perhaps the most famous march composed by John Philip Sousa, the celebrated March King, is \u201cThe Stars and Stripes Forever,\u201d a tribute to the American flag. 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