John Philip Sousa composed the patriotic march “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” He wrote it in 1896, and the piece soon became one of the most recognizable American marches, especially at parades and Independence Day celebrations.
Sousa was already famous as a bandleader and composer of marches when he created the work. According to his later account, the main musical ideas came to him aboard an ocean liner while he was returning to the United States from Europe. The march received its first public performance at Philadelphia’s Academy of Music on May 14, 1897.
Its famous finale combines a soaring piccolo line with a broad, powerful brass melody. Sousa explained that the three themes in the final trio represented the North, South, and West joining together as the Union. The march also has lyrics written by Sousa, although instrumental performances are far more common.
A surprising historical detail is that theater and circus bands once used the piece as an emergency signal, earning it the nickname “the disaster march.” In 1987, Congress officially designated it the national march of the United States.