With Pleasure

From Wind Repertory Project
John Philip Sousa

John Philip Sousa (ed. Robert E Foster)


Also known as Dance Hilarious


General Info

Year: 1912 / 2006
Duration: c. 3:15
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Wingert-Jones Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $60.00; (digital) - $60.00   |   Score Only (print) - $8.00


Instrumentation

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

  • Bass Drum
  • Bells
  • Castanets
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Sandpaper Blocks
  • Snare Drum
  • Tambourine
  • Wood Block


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Experience a side of Sousa most people aren't aware of with this very entertaining ragtime-style piece subtitled Dance Hilarious. Ever the consummate showman, Sousa wrote several works in this style which was very popular with audiences at that time. Written in 1912 for a European concert tour, it is every bit as fresh and entertaining with audiences today as it was then.

- Program Note from publisher


This short, syncopated composition was dedicated "to the members of the Huntingdon Valley Country Club" of Philadelphia. Sousa was a member of this organization and spent many of his leisure hours in athletic activities there with the Sousa Band was engaged in nearby Willow Grove Park. With Pleasure later became part of a suite which Sousa called The American Maid (1913), and it is possible that he used it in a revised edition of the operetta of the same name. In concerts by the Sousa Band it was sometimes programmed as Dance Hilarious.

- Program Note from John Philip Sousa: A Descriptive Catalog of His Works


With Pleasure is a ragtime dating from 1912, dedicated to the members of the Huntingdon Valley Country Club in Abington, Pennsylvania. The Sousa Band played there frequently, apparently to the delight of audiences. While this may seem atypical of Sousa’s well-known march style, he wrote many other light works in this vein. With Pleasure is notable for its extremely active, nearly virtuosic melodies and its colorful use of percussion, including sandpaper, wood block, castanets, and tambourine in addition to the usual marching battery.

- Program Note from Lee University Wind Ensemble concert program, 19 February 2019


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Concert Band (Joel Pagan, conductor) - 17 February 2022
  • University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Symphonic Band (Randall O. Coleman, conductor) – 2 February 2017
  • Lake Park High School (Roselle, Ill.) Wind Ensemble – Spring 2016
  • Parkland College (Champaign, Ill.) Concert Band (Larry Stoner, conductor) - 19 October 2014


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources