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bloke wrote: ↑Fri Apr 04, 2025 8:14 am Based on the impression my father left with me, marches during that time were sort of like rock music from the fifties to the present - except that they weren't considered countercultural or protest or any of that sort of thing.

It’s fascinating to have first hand links to the past like your father seeing a Sousa concert. I knew a guy that I worked with who spoke of seeing Charlie Parker several times at some different venues in the city. He was originally from England, but moved here for work.

bloke wrote: ↑Thu Apr 03, 2025 10:24 am (and - by the way - not a John Williams march).

Whether I'm in the audience or on a stage, when I see it on the program, I suppress a groan. Not a fan.

tokuno wrote: ↑Fri Apr 04, 2025 9:36 am

bloke wrote: ↑Thu Apr 03, 2025 10:24 am (and - by the way - not a John Williams march).

Whether I'm in the audience or on a stage, when I see it on the program, I suppress a groan. Not a fan.

I suppose they're OK...but they're too long, as they're designed to be as long as running a movie's credits...
...much like "Crown Imperial"...too long and repetitive (and "Crown Imperial" is long and repetitive for a reason as well).

MiBrassFS wrote: ↑Fri Apr 04, 2025 8:31 am

bloke wrote: ↑Fri Apr 04, 2025 8:14 am Based on the impression my father left with me, marches during that time were sort of like rock music from the fifties to the present - except that they weren't considered countercultural or protest or any of that sort of thing.

It’s fascinating to have first hand links to the past like your father seeing a Sousa concert. I knew a guy that I worked with who spoke of seeing Charlie Parker several times at some different venues in the city. He was originally from England, but moved here for work.

My parents were born in 1916.
All four of my grandparents were born in the 1880's (one of them: 1881), and I knew all four of them well.

My Dad's impressions of the Sousa Band (as he described them to me in his 60's) were from that of a juvenile.
Based on where my Father lived (Pittsburg, Kansas...a not-long train ride to Kansas City) and the fact that (during that era) I suspect my grandfather never really traveled to any large city other than Kansas City...

...my best guess is that my father and my grandfather attended this concert:

(program for sale on eBay)


again..."from a c. 9-year-old's perspective" seems about right, as my father told me that he viewed those bandsmen as "super men" (ie. demigods).
When he and my grandfather went into a nearby restaurant/cafe, my father recalls that he was disappointed to see some of the bandsmen with their jackets removed, their ties loosened, their sleeves rolled up, drinking beer (an absolute no-no in my father's household re: my grandmother) and smoking (a super no-no as well).


...I'm noticing that the SOPRANO is listed BEFORE the instrumental soloists...more important...?? or "ladies first"...??

I believe Mr. Sousa would not have approved in the slightest as he was reportedly very strict on behavior of band members. There are accounts of immediate dismissal for much less than what your father related.

Sounds like they were “playing the odds!”

I believe many of us know of a remarkably tall, young, and handsome fine tuba player - hired on by Sousa (1921 - 1924) - who ended up (by their middle and later years) being extremely rotund, inches shorter, and a hopeless alcoholic.

Yes. Most of the concert bands I have performed with started with the National Anthem, then a march, then on to the rest of the concert.

bloke wrote: ↑Fri Apr 04, 2025 2:21 pm I believe many of us know of a remarkably tall, young, and handsome fine tuba player - hired on by Sousa (1921 - 1924) - who ended up (by their middle and later years) being extremely rotund, inches shorter, and a hopeless alcoholic.

Life’s full of choices. Once out his employ, they were none of his concern.

I didn't mean to imply that the Sousa experience caused that player to become an alcoholic. I'm only saying that alcohol was part of the musician culture, certainly well through the 70s, and many of the icons of orchestral music were alcoholics. I can think of one whose nickname was a brand of beer. Smoking was the same, except it was nearly completely culture-wide. To my recollection, most adults smoked.
I hope it's on the wain, but cannabis sort of took the place of both alcohol and tobacco in American culture - and certainly in the arts.