Joseph John Richards (August 27, 1878 – March 16, 1956) was a composer, conductor, and music educator best known for writing over 300 compositions for circus and school bands. His most successful works were

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

, including ''Crusade for Freedom'', ''Emblem of Unity'', and ''Shield of Liberty''. Richards was born in

Cwmafan Cwmafan ( cy, Cwmafan; ), sometimes known as Cwmavon in English, is a large village and community in the Afan valley in Wales, lying within Neath Port Talbot County Borough. It had a population of 5,603 in 2001, increasing slightly to 5,615 at ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, but spent most of his childhood in Pittsburg,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He began playing

alto horn The tenor horn (British English; alto horn in American English, Althorn in Germany; occasionally referred to as E horn) is a brass instrument in the saxhorn family and is usually pitched in E. It has a bore that is mostly conical, like the flu ...

and cornet at the age of ten and became director of the Norton-Jones Circus Band at the age of nineteen. He would later play for and conduct several other circus bands, including the

Barnum and Bailey The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...

Circus Band and the

Ringling Brothers The Ringling brothers (originally Rüngling) were seven American siblings who transformed their small touring company of performers into one of the largest circuses in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Four brothers ...

Band before they combined. When not playing for a circus, Richards studied music at Kansas State Teachers College and the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservator ...

. He began teaching music during World War I, first to Army bands and later to public schoolchildren. He conducted several municipal bands in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and Kansas until 1945 when he was selected to succeed Herbert L. Clarke as conductor of the

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Municipal Band. He became a member of the

American Bandmasters Association The American Bandmasters Association (ABA) was formed in 1929 by Edwin Franko Goldman to promote concert band music.Raoul F. Camus. "American Bandmasters Association." In Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/sub ...

in 1936 and was elected president in 1949. Richards died in Long Beach, California in 1956. He was inducted into the Windjammers' Hall of Fame in 1981.

External links

Marches composed by Richards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Joseph John 1878 births 1956 deaths American male composers American composers American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) American bandleaders Welsh emigrants to the United States