The directorate john philip sousa biography book

This was a very interesting book in which I learned many new facts about John Philip Sousa. Most people know of Sousa as "The March King," but he actually wrote hundreds of compositions including operettas, suites, songs, waltzes, humoresques, fantasies, and overtures. He was actually dismayed that people did not like his songs and operettas as much as he did. He also wrote many articles and several books.
Sousa was an extremely talented man; he had perfect pitch and wrote all of his own arrangements for his band. He never learned how to play the piano, but rather would hear his compositions in his head, and then write them down without trying them out on an instrument first. He also standardized the instrumentation for the band, and was responsible for popularizing the symphonic band. Although Sousa played many instruments, his main instrument was actually the violin; he would often include violin soloists as part of his band concert programs. These are some of the things I learned about Sousa from this book, but there are many more fascinating facts that I could site.
The book was well-written, although the last chapter on the Sousa band bogged down a little. The author included minute details about the travel of the band

•

•