John Philip Sousa

The best known American composer of marches, John Philip Sousa, was born on November 6, 1854 in Washington, D.C. He learned to play the violin (as well as several wind instruments) and studied harmony and orchestration before joining the Marine Band in 1868. He served in the band until 1875. He also performed in various theater orchestras. In 1876, he was a violinist in an orchestra conducted by Offenbach during his American tour. An appointment to direct the Marine Band in 1880 brought him back to bands and marches. Sousa directed the Marine Band until 1892, when he formed his own band which toured North America and Europe to great success. The Sousa Band performed at the Chicago World's Fair (1893) and the 1900 Paris Exhibition, which was noted for its diverse music. During the First World War, Sousa joined the Naval Reserve and served his annual tours for many more years. Aside from composing marches, operettas and incidental music, Sousa was also involved in the development of the sousaphone, a bass tuba with an upright bell used in marching bands since the 1890s, and named after Sousa. John Philip Sousa died in 1932, but his legacy lives on. Stars and Stripes Forever became the official march of the US in 1987, by act of Congress signed by Ronald Reagan.

Sousa left us an autobiography, Marching Along, which provides his insights into his own life. And, the major Sousa scholar, Paul E. Bierley, wrote a biography, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon, as well as several other works on Sousa's works. The Polley Music Library has these, as well as several CDs of his works, and piano transcriptions of Sousa's Great Marches.

Frightful Classics

For Halloween, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite scary classical pieces. Find them on a CD at the library, in Classical Music Library (a library database), or follow the links.

• In the Hall of the Mountain King (Grieg, from Peer Gynt)
• Funeral March for a Marionette (Gounod, used as the Alfred Hitchcock theme)
• Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas, featured in Disney's Fantasia)
• Danse Macabre (Saint Saens)
• Toccata and Fugue in D Minor (Bach)
• Night on Bald Mountain (Mussorgsky, featured in Disney's Fantasia)

Enjoy!

Monty Python

The Monty Python television show began airing 40 years ago, in 1969. It was a cultural icon for a generation, and as such, has influenced what people think of when they hear the theme song -- Sousa's Liberty Bell march. Sousa may have written the march in 1893 for an operetta that he never finished, but it wasn't long before the piece had been published and had become a popular march. Since Monty Python went into reruns/syndication, Liberty Bell has been played by the US Marine Corps Band for three presidential inaugurations -- presidents from the Monty Python generation, Clinton, Bush and Obama.

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum... It may be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, but piracy is serious music business. And a long standing tradition. Little Wolfie Mozart used his ear and his amazing memory to copy music from a performance that was never to be copied. Bootleg recordings of performances abound -- opera, classical concerts, rock... And then there's the sharing of recordings via the internet -- of which the RIAA takes a very dim view via their lawsuits. However widespread the phenomenon of piracy, the composers and artists are entitled to the fruits of their musical labors. And there's the rub for intellectual property.

Paul Taffanel

Happy birthday, Paul Taffanel! Taffanel is generally considered to be the father of the modern French flute school, which became the dominant style of playing in Western Europe and the U.S. through the mid-20th century. He was born on September 16, 1844, in Bordeaux, France. His father was a music teacher. By the age of 10, Paul was playing flute in local concerts, and at 12, he was accepted as a student byLouis Dorun, who he followed to the Paris Conservatoire in 1860. Taffanel had a fabulous career as a flute soloist and orchestral player, as a teacher at the Paris Conservatoire from 1893 on, and as a conductor. He also composed and arranged music. He died in Paris in 1908.

Taffanel's playing style was particularly noted for the pure tone with limited vibrato. We flute players are indebted to Paul Taffanel, and many of us can trace our heritage -- our teacher's teachers -- back to Taffanel.

If you're interested in learning more, there's a book, Taffanel: Genius of the Flute, by Edward Blakeman (published by Oxford University Press, 2005). You can find it at the Polley Music Library.

September is National Piano Month

Not only is September National Piano Month, but it is also Library Card Sign-Up Month. To celebrate both, I'd like to suggest that you explore the music database, Classical Music Library. It, along with Smithsonian Global Sounds and African American Song provide a wealth of music to listen to, as well as information about that music. The links are on the Polley Music Library home page. To access these databases from outside the library, you'll need your Lincoln City Libraries' card.

Another possibility for using your library card for National Piano Month would be to check out some of the music in the Polley Music Library. Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach and many other composers await in our section of piano scores. We also have lots of "easy piano" music to play. How about checking out a book about a pianist or the history of the piano? If we don't have what you need, you can use your library card to borrow scores on inter-library loan.

Happy National Piano Month! Happy Library Card Sigh-Up Month!

Funiculi Funicula

On this day in history (August 24, AD 79), Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying several Roman cities, including Pompeii.

Mount Vesuvius towers over the landscape near the Italian city of Naples. Vesuvius is still an active volcano, but the mountain has long drawn people for relaxation and recreation. In 1880, a funicular railway was opened on Mount Vesuvius. To commemorate that opening, Italian composer Luigi Denza wrote a song -- Funiculi Funicula -- with words by Peppino Turco. The song proved to be so popular that Richard Strauss used it in his symphony, Aus Italien, thinking that it was an Italian folk song; needless to say, a lawsuit ensued, and a royalties were awarded to Denza.

Just as Pompeii was destroyed in an eruption of Vesuvius, the funicular railway was destroyed in a 1944 eruption of the volcano. Still the song remains a favorite.