STANLEY tells it all – Studying Sousa
Since the second half of 2017 had brought the much desired direction and decisions were made concerning, I had to build focus on an artistic level as well. In order to do so, I allowed myself an indepth study of John Philip Sousa. Prior to that, I had kept myself away from this as much as possible. Listening to recordings and reading scores is one thing, studying the composer himself something else entirely. Now I went all in.
Going online, visiting several libraries and buying books at Broekmans & Van Poppel my prefered music shop since 1980. Reading everything I could lay my hands on. To me, this is always a great time and yes, it’s truly amazing to find out how much there is published about Sousa. Over the years, a large number of musicologists and other researchers have dug in and historians kept stories alive. The amount of information is overwhelming, to say the least.
In order to bring structure in my studies about Sousa, I bought his autobiography ‘Marching Along’ (1928). This book opens the world of his thought and insight at many levels. Details and nuances bring Sousa alive. This wonderful book is written with the use of the jargon of the day. The influence of his Spanish father and German mother is shown in his choice of words in the evolving American-English. A big thank you to John Philip Sousa IV for keeping this book in print.
Stanley E. van Wel MM – Music Director
Posted on LinkedIn.com dated 15 November 2023