John Philip Sousa, known affectionately as “The March King”, personified turn-of-the-century America, the comparative innocence and brash energy of a still new nation. His ever-touring band represented America across the globe and brought music to hundreds of American towns. This Naxos series of recordings aims to record Sousa’s complete works for wind band, including the 136 marches and numerous other scores. This seventh disc in the series features the grand Presidential Polonaise, the Intaglio Waltzes (modelled on Johann Strauss’s famous examples), and the triumphant Golden Jubilee March in which Sousa imagined “the world passing in review”.
