Liberty Bell, The

From Wind Repertory Project
John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa (arr. Keith Brion and Loras John Schissel)


General Info

Year: 1893 / 2001
Duration: c. 4:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. L. Barnhouse
Cost: Score & Parts - $25.00  &nbsp


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I
Bassoon I
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Side Drum/Snare Drum
  • Bass Drum
  • Chimes
  • CrashCymbals


Errata

In Parts:

  • Snare Drum. m.71: Repeat is missing (repeating from meas. 126)


Program Notes

This march was composed in 1893 and within one year was published for piano solo, piano duet, orchestra, band, banjo, guitar, mandolin, and zither. The title resulted from (1) Sousa and his manager seeing a huge painting of the liberty bell during a show in Chicago, (2) a letter from Sousa's wife the next morning telling how their son had marched in a Philadelphia parade honoring the liberty bell, and (3) Sousa's unashamed patriotism, which predisposed him toward any title with a nationalistic ring -- he was sometimes called the Pied Piper of Patriotism. As his first march published on a royalty basis, The Liberty Bell march netted Sousa $40,000 in less than seven years. Later in his life he told Herbert L. Clarke that he had spent some $15 million on band transportation and $13 million on salaries. And yet he died a very wealthy man.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band


For $500 more, this march probably would have been named The Devil's Deputy. Sousa was composing music for an operetta of that name at the request of the famous comedian Francis Wilson. Sousa asked $1500 for the work, but Wilson offered $1000. When they could not come to an agreement, Sousa withdrew his partially completed manuscript, which included a lively march.

Sousa and George Frederick Hinton, one of the band's managers, were in Chicago witnessing a spectacle called America when a backdrop, with a huge painting of the liberty bell, was lowered. Hinton suggested the The Liberty Bell would be a good title for Sousa's new march. By coincidence, the next morning Sousa received a letter from his wife in which she told him that their son had marched in his first parade in Philadelphia -- a parade honoring the return of the lberty bell, which had been on tour. The new march was then christened The Liberty Bell. It was one of the first marches Sousa sold to the John Church Company and was the first composition to bring Sousa a substantial financial reward.

According to a story told by the Sousa Band's first soprano, Marcella Lindh, she contributed one of the themes of the march. Sousa had heard her whistling a catchy tune of her own and had asked her permission to incorporate it into one of his marches. Several years later she heard The Liberty Bell march being performed by a band in Europe and recognized her own melody in the march.

- Program Note from John Philip Sousa: An Annotated Catalog of His Works


This march is better known in the public mind than most other Sousa marches because of its use as theme music by the British comedy troupe Monty Python.


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Illinois State University (Normal) Wind Symphony (Anthony C. Marinello, conductor) – 21 February 2024
  • University of Kentucky (Lexington) Concert Band (Adam P. Miller, conductor) - 15 October 2023
  • Culver-Stockton College (Canton, Mo.) Wind Ensemble (Trent Hollinger, conductor) - 25 March 2023
  • University of Michigan - Flint (Flint, MI) Wind Symphony (Doug Burtch, conductor) - 22 November 2022
  • Kentucky Virginia Summer Winds (Whitesburg, Ky.) (Amy Acklin, conductor) - 21 June 2022
  • University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Wind Ensemble (Travis J. Cross, conductor) – 6 November 2021
  • East Texas Baptist University (Marshall) Symphonic Band (Nathan G. Phillips, conductor) - 23 April 2021
  • College of Idaho (Caldwell) Wind Ensemble (Luke Strother, conductor) - 8 April 2021
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) - 14 March 2021
  • Stephen F. Austin State University (Nacogdoches, Tx.) Symphonic Band (Chris Kaatz, conductor) - 15 October 2019
  • California State University, Los Angeles Wind Ensemble (Emily Moss, conductor) – 23 September 2019
  • Bullard (Calif.) High School Wind Ensemble (Joseph Cargill, conductor) - 17 March 2019 (2019 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
  • Prairie Wind Ensemble (East Peoria, Ill.) (Jim Tallman, conductor) – 17 March 2019
  • Western Reserve Community Band (Hudson, Ohio) (Ralph Meyer, conductor) - 19 August 2018
  • Philharmonia Winds (Hartford, Conn.) (Alan Francis, conductor) - 13 May 2018
  • Syracuse University Concert Band (Mark Anderson, graduate conductor) – 28 April 2018
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor) – 18 October 2017
  • Callanwolde Concert Band (Decatur, Ga.) (Glen Moore, conductor) - 4 July 2017
  • Encore Winds (Traverse City, MI) (Tim Topolewski, conductor) - 16 October 2016
  • University of North Texas (Denton) Symphony Band (Dennis W. Fisher, conductor) – 9 February 2016
  • Los Baños (Calif.) High School Wind Ensemble (Cliff Brand, conductor) - 17 April 2015 (2015 San Joaquin Valley (Calif.) Concert Band Invitational)


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Bierley, P. (1973). John Philip Sousa: A Descriptive Catalog of His Works. University of Illinois Press; Urbana, pp. 56-57.
  • Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 554.