Description
Book SynopsisJohn Philip Sousa''s mature career as the indomitable leader of his own touring band is well known, but the years leading up to his emergence as a celebrity have escaped serious attention. In this revealing biography, Patrick Warfield explains how the March King came to be by documenting Sousa''s early life and career. Covering the period 1854 to 1893, this study focuses on the community and training that created Sousa, exploring the musical life of late nineteenth-century Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia as a context for Sousa''s development.
Warfield examines Sousa''s wide-ranging experience composing, conducting, and performing in the theater, opera house, concert hall, and salons, as well as his leadership of the United States Marine Band and the later Sousa Band, early twentieth-century America''s most famous and successful ensemble. Sousa composed not only marches during this period but also parlor, minstrel, and art songs; parade, concert, and medley marches; schottisches,
Trade Review
"Making the March King is chock full of fresh and previously unpublished details about John Philip Sousa's early years, his influences, his formative experiences, and his strategies for promoting his career and reputation. Recommended for anyone interested in music history and the full story of one of the giants of early American popular culture."--Thomas L. Riis, author of Frank Loesser
"Thorough, engaging and fun. Musicians interested in the evolution of music in the US will be riveted by this study of one of America's most beloved musical icons. Highly recommended."--Choice
"An engaging book, easy to read, full of facts and footnotes."--American Record Guide
"Warfield has brilliantly illuminated how Sousa managed his nascent career to become the March King, providing readers with a remarkable look at how an artist can shape his or her career."--American Music
"Like Sousa's musical programs, the book is both educational and entertaining."--Washington History
"A terrific new book on the early life and times of a composer who has long been as enigmatic as he is familiar."--Kenneth R. Kreitner, author of Discoursing Sweet Music: Brass Bands and Community Life in Turn-of-the-Century Pennsylvania
