Born in Washington in 1854, John Philip Sousa joined the United States Marine Band as an apprentice musician at thirteen, and led it from 1880 to 1892. He then founded his own band, with which he toured the United States and Europe for almost forty years. He wrote more than a hundred marches, among them The Washington Post (1889), The Liberty Bell (1893) and The Stars and Stripes Forever (1896), as well as operettas. He died in 1932.
His marches were also published for piano, and played at home as much as outdoors. The catalogue presents The Stars and Stripes Forever in its piano version of 1897. It is an advanced piece: start with the left hand alone, keeping bass and chord perfectly even, then add the right-hand melody.
