musicians in the style and interpretation he wanted and, soon, the marches were played correctly from memory, despite the actual notations on the page.


In checking the ten marches we recorded, we found hundreds of small and large discrepancies within the marches themselves. Articulations were inconsistent, dynamics were missing or misplaced by several bars, accents were not carried throughout all the parts, and on and on. In some cases, instructions in the original manuscript scores did not make it into the published edition and these also had to be incorporated into the parts. Therefore, our first goal was to insure that we were using the most authentic published edition and our second goal was to clarify and make consistent all markings, indications, dynamics, and accents on the music. This involved hours and hours of work but these are changed which could not have been made effectively without having gone through this step.


Having reconciled problems and inconsistencies in the published editions, the next step was to address the area of Sousa performance practice. This is an area which has ceased to be a part of the corporate knowledge of band conductors, particularly since so many prominent members of Sousa’s band are no longer with us to remind us of these traditions.


The first point is this – the published versions of Sousa’s Marches bear no resemblance to the way he actually performed them. The published “Quickstep” editions were designed for use by bands in marching situations and are scored with considerable doubling and extra support to make the march sound good in an outdoor setting. This was done for a reason, and also, to make the march more accessible to the average school band which might want to play in it.


When Sousa would play these marches, he would make considerable changes in order to add variety and contrast to the performance. This is well documented in the writings of former Sousa Band members. Following a 1951 clinic at the University of New Hampshire, given by these former members of the Sousa Band – Frank Simon, August Helmecke, and Same Harris – George Reynolds made the following observation:


“To quote Helmicke – ‘Sousa would simply jot down his themes, hand them over to the band copyist, and then snap right into action on them. Consequently, when they came to be published, nothing but the notes reached the page. The notes alone give the barest skeleton of what a Sousa march can be.’ This means that either you play under the baton of a Sousa Alumnus – of that you are probably not observing the proper performance techniques.”


Another former Sousa member, Howard Bronson, gave an address on Sousa marches at the 1951 CBDNA Easter Division Meeting, Bronson said: “Sousa’s own compositions were played with meticulous attention to the dynamics, shading and tone coloring. The printed scores did not carry the marking as actually played by the band. Each player


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knew exactly how Sousa wanted certain passages played.”


To document these performance changes, we consulted three main sources: 1) The writings of former Sousa solo cornetist


Frank Simon 2) The Sousa Band Encore Books 3) Recordings of the Sousa Band and others conducted by Sousa authorities like Frank Simon.


Frank Simon served as solo cornetist and assistant conductor of the Sousa Band from 1914 to 1921. In the later years of his life, he devoted considerable time to sharing his insights into Sousa’s music by writing and by guest-conducting all over the nation. In 1966, Frank Simon participated in a series of interviews in which he discussed two dozen or so Sousa marches in great detail, documenting the exact performance changes as Sousa had done them. These interviews were transcribed and published in two booklets and accompanying recordings which were produced under the auspices of the A.S.B.D.A.


Simon’s information is the most complete written information available about the performance of the Sousa marches and its authenticity can be verified by other Sousa Band members.


Perhaps the most famous exponent of the “Sousa Sound” was a bass drummer August Helmecke. He performed with the Sousa Band for a record 22 seasons and was considered by all who knew him to be the ultimate authority on Sousa marches. Helmecke participated in the 1951 Sousa clinic conducted by Frank Simon and commented: “Frank Simon conducted and his interpretations were like Mr. Sousa’s. Frank did an excellent job. He really remembers the accents, despite being away from the band for a number of years. Because I and only a few others retain this knowledge, I strongly feel the urge to have everyone know them.”


There can be no stronger endorsement of Simon’s information on Sousa march performance and, therefore, we consider it very reliable and valuable.


The Sousa Band encore books are another important source of information. Although most of Sousa’s information to his players were given verbally and usually not written down, some marking were made in these encore books which give insight into how Sousa played the marches. I should point out that the information from the Sousa encore books totally supports the information which Frank Simon gave about the marches.


Finally, there are recordings of the Sousa Band and recording conducted by Simon and others. The Sousa Band made nearly 1200 recordings for the Victor Talking Machine company over the years. But, as many of you know, Sousa only conducted on a half-dozen or so of those recordings. The rest were conducted by Arthur Pryor, Herbert L. Clarke, Walter Rogers, or other longtime Sousa


Band members. The question is this – how reliable are those recordings? The answer is not easy to determine. While there are many interesting features of the Sousa Band recordings, it is obvious that there were concessions made to the recording process which may have been at variance with the actual performances of the Sousa Band.


Some of the changes were undoubtedly demands of the recording company. For instance, several of the marches are performed with a Da Capo and are played through the second strain on the repeat. Sousa did not approve of this practice in his own performance but it seems very possible that, in this case, the recording company held the final control on these sessions. In other cases, there seems to be more emphasis on the melody parts, with additional players on the melody in order to make it come out more prominently on the recording. Due to the quality and limitations of the recording, it is often difficult to hear whether certain inner parts are being performed at all. It would be understandable if the limitations of the recording process required changes for the purpose of recording but it certainly does not provide an accurate picture of the exact performances of the Sousa Band. In addition, certain accents and other effects could not be accommodated without great distortion on the recording and were, therefore, left out.


Of all the Sousa Band recordings, two recordings which were conducted by Sousa, stand out. These perhaps provide the most complete picture of how the Sousa Band might have sounded in a concert performance of a march. These recordings were made on September 6, 1918, of John Philip Sousa conducting his marches “Solid Men to the Front” and “Sabre and Spurs.”


There are many interesting things about these recordings. First: tempo. Sousa Band members reported that he conducted his marches anywhere from 120 to 126 beats per minute. In his later years, the tempos often got as fast as 132 beats per minute. Other Sousa Band recordings ranged from 126 to 138 beats per minute but this one is different. Both of the Sousa recordings with him conducting range between 112 and 118 beats per minute, considerably slower than any of the other recordings.


Memories of the Sousa men aside, I feel the recordings speak for themselves and that this is the tempo Sousa would have chosen for a concert performance of one of his marches. Now – since many of his marches were performed as encores on his concerts, perhaps he endorsed a faster tempo for this purpose. We also know he sometimes eliminated first endings in the first and second strains when playing the marches as encores. One possible explanation is that he wanted to play as many Sousa Marches as he possibly could and the faster tempos helped. With these two recordings ranging between 112 and 118 beats per minute, and another recording of Sousa conducting “Stars and Stripes” clocked at 120, I can find no reason to perform these marches faster than 120 beats per minute, and perhaps a shade


February/March 2016


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