| "The Washington Post" | |
|---|---|
| March byJohn Philip Sousa | |
 Cover of the 1889 sheet music for "The Washington Post" | |
| Composed | 1889 |
| Audio sample | |
TheUnited States Marine Band performs "The Washington Post" | |
"The Washington Post" (often called "The Washington Post March") is amarch composed byJohn Philip Sousa in 1889. Since then, it has remained as one of his most popular marches throughout the United States and many other countries.
In 1888, the recent purchasers ofThe Washington Post newspaper—Frank Hatton, a formerPostmaster General, andBeriah Wilkins, a former Democratic congressman from Ohio—requested that Sousa, the leader of theUnited States Marine Band, compose a march for the newspaper's essay contest awards ceremony, in conjunction with a campaign to promote the newspaper under new ownership. Sousa obliged; "The Washington Post" was introduced at a ceremony on June 15, 1889, "with PresidentBenjamin Harrison in attendance" before "a huge crowd on the grounds of theSmithsonian Museum".[1] It quickly became quite popular in both the United States and Europe[1][2] as the standard musical accompaniment to thetwo-step, a late 19th-centurydance craze.[3] This led to a British journalist dubbing Sousa "The March King". Sousa is honored inThe Washington Post building for his contribution to the newspaper and his country.
The composition is in thepublic domain in the US, as its copyrighthas expired, due to Sousa's death more than 70 years ago and its publication before the early 1920s.
During the award ceremony the young essay-contest winners were presented with gold medals that were hand-crafted by local jewelersGalt & Bro., with each having unique designs and custom engravings.[4]
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This recognizable march is written instandard form: IAABBCCDCDC. Written incompound duple meter, it is suited as an accompaniment to thetwo-step, a new dance introduced at that time.
The openingstrain of the march is famous and familiar to many. Typically, the march is played at a tempo of 110 to 120 beats per minute, rarely any faster.
March enthusiasts have argued that the trio sections' mellow and moving phrases are among Sousa's most musical. Six sudden eighth notes move the melody along. Its unusually calm break strain is a simple adaptation of the trio melody. It then moves on to the first trio repeat, where the low brass begins an even more mellowcountermelody.
The "two-step" became so strongly identified with Sousa's march that the dance was often called "The Washington Post". In addition, many performance arts groups around the world dance to the famous song.[5]
Although many recordings of this march have been made over the years, the original recording of the march played by theUnited States Marine Band, conducted by Sousa's concertmaster,[6] was made onGraphophonecylinder for the fledglingColumbia Records company in Washington, D.C., in 1890, catalogue Columbia Cylinder Military #8. It has been reissued in the compact disc era in 1999 by Legacy International asMarch King: John Philip Sousa Conducts His Own Marches, and as the earliest track of its 26-disc compendium of the history of the Columbia label,Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack For A Century. In 1893, this march was recorded onNorth American Phonograph Company cylinder #613 by Foh's 23rd Regiment Band of New York. This acoustical recording, unlike many others, has audible, clear, well-recorded drums.[7]
