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FOSHAY TOWER WASHINGTON MEMORIAL MARCH
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JOHN PHILIP SOUSA WROTE THIS ON COMMISSION FROM WILBUR FOSHAY, WHO BUILT A FINANCIAL EMPIRE BUT LOST IT ALL ON 'BLACK FRIDAY' 1929. SOUSA WAS NEVER PAID AND THE MARCH WAS NOT PLAYED FOR 59 YEARS. PERFORMED HERE BY THE 2007 TMEA ALL STATE CONCERT BAND
highschool bands jazz bands college bands all region bands community bands concert bands honor bands interlochen arts academy marching bands national music camp tmea all state bands university bands
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Contemporary band compositions, classical music arrangements, marches, jazz, symphonies, overtures. A collection from bands that I have played in throughout hi
Hello and welcome! "Symphonic Band Performances" is a compilation of recordings from several high school and college bands that I played in including the TMEA (Texas) All State Band, the TMEA Region X All Region Band, the Interlochen Arts Academy National Music Camp, the Cal Poly Tech Band, San Luis Obispo, the USAF Golden West Band, and recordings from my h.s. band, Beaumont H.S. and a few band recordings that were passed down to me. Also included are various All State groups and college and university bands. I participated and played in the large majority of these recordings. There are no professional recordings here and every recording is Public Domain. Most are available for free download. Each song has been converted from the original analog or digital source and edited with Audacity or Dak software. In the majority of these recordings, I play the tenor sax or alto sax, b flat or e flat clarinet, or directing. I was drum major for 2 years in high school, I have a BA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I studied music ed, composition and theory. I had about 500 more recordings I was planning to digitize and upload, but this past Nov. 20th, my home was completely destroyed by fire, and all the contents, including all my music and instruments. So, this is it. Please feel free to post a comment here or on my member page. If you like, please become a fan by clicking "I'm a fan" below.
Song Info
Genre
Classical • Ensembles
Charts
Peak #60
Peak in subgenre #5
Author
John Philip Sousa - 1929
Rights
public domain
Uploaded
January 03, 2010
Track Files
MP3
MP3 5.2 MB • 192 kbps • 3:46
Story behind the song
In the last years of his life, John Philip Sousa was overwhelmed with requests for dedicatory marches. Sousa seldom accepted commissions, preferring instead to respond to his own inspirations, or to accept a signed petition, usually from a university or civic organization. For some reason, Sousa made an exception for Wilbur Foshay, who had built a financial empire through supplying electrical power to the American Midwest. Foshay was constructing a 447-foot skyscraper to be located in downtown Minneapolis—the first such building constructed west of the Mississippi River—and wanted a new Sousa march written especially for its opening, slated for August 1929. When the Foshay Tower opened, Sousa's Band played eight concerts in Minneapolis, all connected with the event. On October 31, 1929—"Black Friday"—Wilbur Foshay lost everything when the New York Stock Exchange crashed. The Securities and Exchange Commission took an interest in Foshay, and in 1932 he was sent to Leavenworth Prison, convicted of conducting a "pyramid scheme" with shares of his own stock. Foshay served four years at Leavenworth before his sentence was commuted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, largely on the strength of protests from prominent Minneapolis citizens who lobbied hard for Foshay's release. Later, Foshay's case was reviewed, and it was discovered that Foshay was innocent of initiating the stock swindle that resulted in his imprisonment. In 1947, President Harry Truman awarded Foshay with a full and unconditional pardon. Foshay died ten years later, penniless, in a nursing home. But John Philip Sousa had died in 1932, and was not to witness these later developments. Sousa was outraged that his own name and blameless reputation was linked to Foshay's troubles, and forbade both publication and further performances of the march he had written on Foshay's behalf. In band circles, the work became known as Sousa's "mystery march." Though Foshay himself no longer owned the Foshay Tower, on its own merits the building became a symbol for the city of Minneapolis. The Tower's distinctive obelisk-shaped design is modeled after the Washington Monument. For four decades, it was the tallest building in Minneapolis, yet its small floorboards and offices make it an ideal location for small businesses. In 1966, a museum dedicated to the Tower's history was installed on the top floor, and for the opening of the museum, the Foshay management sought permission to have the Sousa composition revived. But Sousa's heirs again refused; Foshay had not paid the commission for the march, outside of a small advance, nor had he paid for the concerts that had surrounded the opening of the Tower. In 1988, a group of Minneapolis citizens raised the money to pay off Foshay's debt to Sousa, and the march was finally heard in time for the 60th anniversary of the Foshay Tower. "Mystery" no more, this march, one of Sousa's last, has finally been recorded, and allowed to take pride of place alongside his other 135 marches.
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