The SOUSA VARIATIONS part 2

a six-composer collaboration, The Sousa Variations, based on John Philip Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever.

Sousa Variation IV "On the death of David Blakely" by Erling Wold
DAVID BLAKELY IS DEAD.; Manager of Sousa's Band Stricken with Apoplexy.
NOV 8TH, 1896, WEDNESDAY
David Blakely, manager of Sousa's Band, died suddenly yesterday afternoon in the Carnegie Building, Fifty-seventh Street and Seventh Avenue, from an attack of apoplexy. Mr. Blakely was in the best of health until stricken. At about 4 o'clock his typewriter went out on an errand. When she returned, she found Mr. Blakely lying on his face on the floor of his office.


Variation V "Stripes & Stars: a variation" by Michael Cooke
I have many warm memories about hearing "The Stars and Stripes Forever" during 4th of July outings as a child. It is by far one of the most well known marches in the repertoire. While I have enjoyed listen to it over the years, as a performer, my part was always very boring. Bassoons and saxophone only got the pa-pa part of the um-pa-um-pa accompaniment. So for my variation I first decided I would give the bassoons a more fun part. Then while working with melodies I inverted them and really liked it. The inversion of a given melody is the melody turned upside-down. For instance, if the original melody has a rising major third, the inverted melody has a falling major third. I then recombined various melodies a little to round out my variation. This variation was funded in part through Meet The Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program.


Variation VI "Stars and Stripes for Desert" by Loren Jones
Ali Johna Philip Sousa Khan lived in Afghanistan in the early 1900's. He had a parallel life to the more famous American Sousa of no relation. His final work, Stars and Stripes for Desert, was considered to be an evil blasphemy, inspired by infidels, and he was executed after its premiere performance. The only surviving recording of this work was on an old cassette smuggled out of Afghanistan in the 1970's by a Russian KGB agent, and copied by a friend of Loren Jones, from the Republic of Georgia. Loren transcribed and orchestrated the score from that recording.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• classical
• flag
• Star
• Stripes
• banner
• John
• Phillips
• Sousa
• 4th
• of
• July
• Independence
• Day
• patriotic

[DadSteve]

I wonder what Sousa would have thought of this?