Talk:John Philip Sousa

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POTD

Picture of the day

John Philip Sousa (1854–1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known primarily for American military marches. Showing great talent as a child, he mastered several instruments alongside an apprenticeship in the Marine Corps. After a period as a violinist and theater orchestra conductor, Sousa returned to the Marines for a twelve-year stint as head of the U.S. Marine Band, including two presidential inauguration balls. Later in life, he formed the Sousa Band and saw active service in World War I. He wrote a total of 137 marches, including Stars and Stripes Forever, which was designated the United States national march in 1987.Photograph: Elmer Chickering

Controversy

Why is there no mention of any of the minstrel songs his band played? Also why no mention of his “Indian” music? Maybe make this entry look less like a list of accomplishments and more like an encyclopedia article? 173.81.120.144 (talk) 03:58, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

Bavaria Wikilink

In the Early life and education section, Maria Elisabeth Trinkhaus is listed as German and from Bavaria, with the link to the present-day Free State of Bavaria. Since she lived from May 20, 1826 – August 25, 1908, shouldn't this link to Kingdom of Bavaria (1806-1918) instead? Theodore Kloba (☎) 15:38, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

Yes, good catch. Something like that I think you can just go ahead and fix without discussion. GA-RT-22 (talk) 16:41, 5 July 2024 (UTC)

Columbia recordings conducted by Sousa

Regarding this: "The Columbia Phonograph Company produced 60 recordings of the Marine Band conducted by Sousa". I believe there is some disagreement about this among scholars. Sousa hated the phonograph and legend is that the Columbia recordings were conducted by someone else. Here's a source: "Sousa’s Band also made recordings for the Columbia, Edison, and Berliner labels, but Sousa very rarely conducted his ensemble during those sessions." GA-RT-22 (talk) 13:18, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

It turns out this wasn't supported by the cited source so I have removed it. GA-RT-22 (talk) 16:03, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

Classical composer?

I was quite surprised to find Sousa in the "classical composer" categories. People aren't supposed to be added to categories without some support and sources for that in the article, so it would be nice if someone could add that. GA-RT-22 (talk) 13:44, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

He wrote operettas, so I'd think that put him in the "classical" category, unless that's classical as distingushed from baroque, romantic, etc. --SarekOfVulcan (talk) 16:08, 7 November 2024 (UTC)

What makes him not a classical composer? Would you say that Johann Strauss Jr. isn't one either? ♫ Melodia Chaconne ♫ (talk) 06:09, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

GA Reassessment

John Philip Sousa

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch • Watch article reassessment page • Most recent review

Result: Delisted. ~~ AirshipJungleman29 (talk) 18:07, 15 March 2025 (UTC)

This page has a decent bit of missing, fundamental information and poor sourcing. At the time of writing this, the page names sources from Amazon and J. W. Pepper (an online music retailer) instead of the actual publications. And while properly formatted citations are not required for a GA, this page is remarkably bad to the point that dates and authors are missing, simple bare links point to incorrect places, and shortened footnote templates are broken. There are a few statements that need sourcing in general.

In terms of missing information, the coverage of his music is poor, being a simple listing of his work. The section needs to cover how he composed, his compositional techniques, and his musical legacy. All of this is standard information in any of the dozen books covering him (which the page only uses two of). Another major facet missing is in-depth coverage of his bands. His career section is under 500 words. (Why is his hobby section longer?) The Sousa Band (his civilian ensemble) lasted nearly forty years and does not even receive a full paragraph in the article. I can point out some more specifics as needed (and I have access to several books), but this page needs a major overhaul, not just some light editing. Why? I Ask (talk) 06:49, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Who's Who in Navy Blue dedication

The article says that this march is dedicated to Tamanend. But the cited source says it's dedicated to Tecumseh. The confusion is because it's dedicated to a statue of Tamanend, but that statue is nicknamed Tecumseh. See United States Naval Academy#Monuments and memorials. Not sure what to do about this. GA-RT-22 (talk) 07:55, 8 February 2025 (UTC)

Clubs

Regarding the list of club memberships, this is unsourced, but it says these are all in Washington. I don't think that's true. The well-known Salmagundi and New York Athletic clubs, at least, are located in New York, not Washington. I can't find any evidence there is a New York Athletic Club in Washington, and it seems unlikely there would be one. GA-RT-22 (talk) 16:45, 1 August 2025 (UTC)

Why do we give the Portuguese pronunciation?

Why do we give the Portuguese pronunciation of his name in the opening sentence? It seems completely irrelevant. I don't see any connection to Portugal other than his paternal grandparents, so he would never have used that pronunciation himself. GA-RT-22 (talk) 21:40, 1 August 2025 (UTC)

The Chickering photo

Sousa in 1900 by Elmer Chickering

I wonder if we should restore the Chickering photo to the article. It's a featured photo and was WP:Picture of the day on 19 September 2018. It was removed in this edit . GA-RT-22 (talk) 14:05, 23 March 2026 (UTC)

Washington state?

@Johnpacklambert: I think this must be a mistake: There is nothing in the article that links the subject with Washington state. GA-RT-22 (talk) 15:40, 4 May 2026 (UTC)

• Yes, I meant Washington DC. I did not look to make sure the category I was linking was correctly all the way through. Sorry about that.John Pack Lambert (talk) 15:41, 4 May 2026 (UTC)

Music Dept., University of Illinois

When I was a student at the University of Illinois, I lived in a dorm down the street from a museum with Sousa's original compositions. The caption on the exhibit stated that Sousa had been head of the instrument division of the Music Dept. This is not mentioned in the article. Does anyone have further information that should be included? Wigly Pigly (talk) 21:04, 21 June 2026 (UTC)