From Wikipedia. “In his autobiography, Marching Along, Sousa wrote that he composed the march on Christmas Day 1896. He had just learned of the recent death of David Blakely, then manager of the Sousa Band. Sousa was on a ferry in Europe at the time, and he composed the march in his head. He committed the notes to paper on arrival in America. Although he would conduct performances of it at virtually every concert until his death, only one recording of a Sousa performance, made in 1909, is known to survive today.”
That piece of music, is of course, the Stars and Stripes Forever.
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Thank you, Wretchard.
By God, get on your feet and remove your hat.
Be kind to your web-footed friends
For that duck may be somebody’s mother,
She lives in a nest in a swamp
Where the weather is very damp.
You may think that this is the end,
Well it is, but to prove we’re all liars,
We’re going to sing it again,
Only we’ll sing a little higher.
(again)
….
Something like that anyway.
A happy time of year – Canada Day July 1, American Independence Day July 4.
A cheesy sentiment but it’s mine and I can smile if I want to.
A noble vocal effort but as much as I like the barbershop quartets for other things, for this I’ll take the brass band.
… though I was not aware there even *were* lyrics for this, outside of the webfooted version.
Evey word is true.
When you here the 300+ member Texas A&M Fighting Texas Aggie Band break out in the Stars and Stripes Forever, you know how it was meant to be performed.
Sousa’s original lyrics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stars_and_Stripes_Forever#Sousa.27s_lyrics
Lyrics revised by David Wright for barbershop quartet Acoustix:
http://www.acoustix.com/discography/stars-a-stripes.html
On YouTube there are several performances of “The Stars and Stripes Forever”:
Acoustix, barbershop quartet (shown by Wretchard)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglWth784uU
Doug Smith, solo acoustic guitar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f5WRrUJu-8&feature=related
Cameron Carpenter, organ (watch his thumbs)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HrhZ1-cPJE&feature=related
Arcadi Volodos, solo piano (Vladimir Horowitz’s arrangement to celebrate becoming American citizen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeGTPE1Z_qs&feature=related
Leonard Bernstein & NY Philharmonic, showing off for speed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9ePaETGQZ0&feature=related
Computer-animated pitch graph
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx0RRdPdKcM&feature=related
Sousa conducting for RCA in 1931
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fpr5lYMz7LE
Chet Atkins murdering the ending
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8BDYETDM5c&feature=related
(I wanted to link to John Williams and the Boston Pops in Tokyo, but it was taken down for copyright infringement. It was the best straight orchestral performance I’d seen on YouTube &c.)
The cylinder preservation website reports the following for The Sousa Band and Stars and Stripes Forever:
8 Sousa’s Band. Stars and stripes forever 2104: Edison Blue Amberol 285: Edison Amberol [1913]
9 Sousa’s Band. Stars and stripes forever 285: Edison Amberol [1909]
10 Sousa’s Band. Stars and stripes forever 532: Columbia [between 1896 and 1900]
11 Sousa’s Grand Concert Band. Stars and stripes forever march 532: Columbia Phonograph Co. [between 1904 and 1909]
http://cylinders.library.ucsb.edu/index.php
(The numbers refer to my search results)
BTW, each of the search results includes a player where you can listen to the tune. The Columbia recording has an interesting voice introduction.
Regards,
JJ
PS
Wikipedia wrong again.
:>)
JJ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cMxJBenigY
This is the tune used by W in 2001 to close the Memorial Service to the victims of 9-11.
darned fireworks went off 15 minutes early, and I barely got to freeloader’s hill before the finale – the whole presentation was only 15 minutes, a recession special! I must talk to the club management about this, the neighborhood has standards, harumph.
This “Sousa conducting for RCA in 1931″ is brilliant. The way it was written because, well, it is Sousa himself.
Just got back from the Plano civic fireworks display. I love today. Every year.
Thanks RagnarD@13. What a great way to start another day.
I’ve always liked this version –
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1d4opG2s0o
shameless self-promotion – here’s myself, the missus, and about 50 or so of our best friends, playing Stars and Stripes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5P9vsONO94
my favorite version of the national anthem, courtest of Jack Stamp, of Indiana University of Pennsylvania (that’s right, there’s one in Pa, as well…)
Why? Think of the words of the anthem as you listen to the band, and you’ll understand why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Hd3pJx2dew&feature=related
just for fun (and for something completely different), here’s Easter Monday on the White House Lawn, also from the mighty pen of John Philip Sousa.
http://www.youtube.com/user/vladtech#p/u/52/HDX0Zqvu7Lo
This spirited rendition deserves more than 130 views. As a former high school and military band trumpet player, I recommend their effort. http://youtu.be/9ZD7-NG7nHs
Absolutely the best rendition of the National Anthem was at a high school basketball game.
The tape player had murphied so the announcer asked if there were any Madrigals in the audience.
Half a dozen kids came down from the stands, stood in a half circle humming at each other, which I expect means getting the pitch or key or something.
Then they blew the roof off WITHOUT GETTING IN THE WAY OF THE ANTHEM. They put the song first, but they did a fabulous job on top of it.
Stars and Stripes is terrific, but Mitch Miller has bastardized it.
westerncanadian (#4):
I certainly agree with your sentiment, and no personal criticism intended, but I despise the name “Canada Day”. It’s entirely too plastic for my liking.
To this western Canadian, July 1 is and will always be Dominion Day. Now there’s a name with some history, not to mention some distinction.
(I have never understood, and will never understand, the progressive mentality that says that we should honour a nation by erasing its history, such as the name of its national holiday, its flag, etc. But then, the people who inflicted “Canada Day” on us were always “Year Zero” types.)
Best regards.
Re: 7 Wade – The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band also does a breathtaking version of the National Anthem.
There is a very old story (mostly true) of the FTAB striking up the National Anthem to stop a fight in Waco between Baylor and Aggie students at a football game in 1926. We take our football very seriously in Texas. Cheers -
http://www.theeagle.com/am/Five-year-reprieve