Sousa's Band - Pasquinade (1901)
Sousa's Band
"Pasquinade"
Victor 3438
1901
Composer is Louis Moreau Gottschalk
John Philip Sousa was among the most important figures in American music.
He was born on November 6, 1854, in Washington, DC, to Antonio and Elizabeth Sousa.
He played violin in a number of orchestras prior to assuming, at age 26, the post of U. S. Marine Band director in 1880, a position he held until 1892.
The first recordings associated with Sousa were made by the U. S. Marine Band in 1890. It was not the full band since recording technology at the time could accommodate little more than a dozen players. It recorded at least 229 titles for Columbia by the summer of 1892.
The conductor left the band on August 1, 1892. He had started forming his own band, which by July had been engaged for the October dedication of Chicago's Columbian Exposition. Patrick Gilmore died on September 24, which created a rare opportunity to hire great musicians. This death also left a void that Sousa could fill.
The new band was at first called Sousa's New Marine Band but this name was short-lived due to objections by the U. S. Marine Band. It was renamed Sousa's Grand Concert Band. Records identify the ensemble as Sousa's Band.
Sousa's name brought much-needed prestige to the fledgling recording industry, and he was presumably paid well for this.
"The Menace of Mechanical Music" is the title of an article he wrote for the September 1906 issue of Appleton's Magazine, and it contained this line: "Canned music is as incongruous by a campfire as canned salmon by a trout stream."
It is understandable if Sousa in the 1890s viewed records with such contempt that he declined to conduct during sessions. Recording and playback technologies were decidedly crude throughout that decade. Brown wax cylinders and Berliner discs hardly did justice to Sousa's Band, whose concerts thrilled audiences. By 1906, technology had advanced significantly, but records still could not deliver the rich sounds of live performances (companies naturally stressed that record buyers could hear Sousa's Band in their homes at any time, which is a worthwhile point never addressed by Sousa).
Sousa mainly worried that mechanical music--records and player pianos--threatened the livelihood of musicians, which was a genuine problem, but that he openly criticized recorded music after taking so much money from various record companies is remarkable.
Sousa did not conduct during a recording session until December 21, 1917.
"Pasquinade"
Victor 3438
1901
Composer is Louis Moreau Gottschalk
John Philip Sousa was among the most important figures in American music.
He was born on November 6, 1854, in Washington, DC, to Antonio and Elizabeth Sousa.
He played violin in a number of orchestras prior to assuming, at age 26, the post of U. S. Marine Band director in 1880, a position he held until 1892.
The first recordings associated with Sousa were made by the U. S. Marine Band in 1890. It was not the full band since recording technology at the time could accommodate little more than a dozen players. It recorded at least 229 titles for Columbia by the summer of 1892.
The conductor left the band on August 1, 1892. He had started forming his own band, which by July had been engaged for the October dedication of Chicago's Columbian Exposition. Patrick Gilmore died on September 24, which created a rare opportunity to hire great musicians. This death also left a void that Sousa could fill.
The new band was at first called Sousa's New Marine Band but this name was short-lived due to objections by the U. S. Marine Band. It was renamed Sousa's Grand Concert Band. Records identify the ensemble as Sousa's Band.
Sousa's name brought much-needed prestige to the fledgling recording industry, and he was presumably paid well for this.
"The Menace of Mechanical Music" is the title of an article he wrote for the September 1906 issue of Appleton's Magazine, and it contained this line: "Canned music is as incongruous by a campfire as canned salmon by a trout stream."
It is understandable if Sousa in the 1890s viewed records with such contempt that he declined to conduct during sessions. Recording and playback technologies were decidedly crude throughout that decade. Brown wax cylinders and Berliner discs hardly did justice to Sousa's Band, whose concerts thrilled audiences. By 1906, technology had advanced significantly, but records still could not deliver the rich sounds of live performances (companies naturally stressed that record buyers could hear Sousa's Band in their homes at any time, which is a worthwhile point never addressed by Sousa).
Sousa mainly worried that mechanical music--records and player pianos--threatened the livelihood of musicians, which was a genuine problem, but that he openly criticized recorded music after taking so much money from various record companies is remarkable.
Sousa did not conduct during a recording session until December 21, 1917.