HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"The Liberty Bell" (1893) is an American military march composed by
John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...
.


History

"The Liberty Bell", at the time a new composition as yet untitled, was written for Sousa's unfinished
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...
"The Devil's Deputy" before financing for the show fell through. Shortly afterwards, while attending the
Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
, Sousa and his band manager George Hinton watched the spectacle "America", in which a backdrop depicting the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independen ...
was lowered. Hinton suggested "The Liberty Bell" for the title of Sousa's unnamed march. Coincidentally, Sousa received a letter from his wife saying their son had marched in a parade in honor of the Liberty Bell. Sousa agreed, and he sold "The Liberty Bell" sheet music to the John Church Company for publication; the new march was an immediate success. The march is played as part of an exhibit in the Liberty Bell Center. The
United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in th ...
has played "The Liberty Bell" march at five of the last seven presidential inaugurations: the 1993 inauguration of President
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...
,''Bill Clinton Presidential Inauguration 1993 (Part 1 of 3)''
see 6:21–9:10, on
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush, the 2009 and 2013 inaugurations of President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, and the 2017 inauguration of President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...
. The ship's bell from the '' SS John Philip Sousa'', a World War II
Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...
, is housed at the Marine Barracks and is used by The President's Own in select performances of the march. "The Liberty Bell" is also the official march of the
Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
Public Affairs Branch.


Composition

The march follows the standard form of AABBCDCDC. The trio (sections C and D) uses tubular bells to symbolize the Liberty Bell ringing. The bells usually begin during the first breakstrain (section D), but some bands use them at the first trio (section C).


Instrumentation

This is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, snare drum, and strings.


Use in ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''

The march is best known today with being associated with the British TV comedy program ''
Monty Python's Flying Circus ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (also known as simply ''Monty Python'') is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, who became ...
'' (1969–1974), which used the version performed by the
Band of the Grenadier Guards The Band of the Grenadier Guards is one of the bands in the British Army. History In 1685 Charles II allowed the band to maintain 12 "hautbois" (oboe) players. His death in 1685 was so significant for the band that until the Second World W ...
and published in 1893 as a signature tune to avoid copyright fees.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam (; born 22 November 1940) is an American-born British filmmaker, comedian, animator, actor and former member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam has directed 13 feature films, including '' Time Bandits'' (1981), '' ...
, the only American member of the troupe, advocated using the theme. He has said the piece was chosen because the troupe thought it would not be associated with the program's content, and that the first bell strike and subsequent melody would give the impression of getting "straight down to business." The Monty Python mode of presenting the tune was with a single strike of the bell, lifted from the third section and increased in volume, followed by a strain of each of the first two sections, followed by the famous stomping foot animation and a noticeably
flatulent Flatulence, in humans, is the expulsion of gas from the intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swallowed environm ...
"splat" sound reminiscent of a whoopee cushion (the first 13 episodes used a "
raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with ...
"). At the end of the film '' Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'', the entire march was played over the
closing credits Closing credits or end credits are a list of the cast and crew of a particular motion picture, television program, or video game. Where opening credits appear at the beginning of a work, closing credits appear close to, or at the very end of a ...
.


See also

* List of marches by John Philip Sousa * "
Chimes of Liberty "Chimes of Liberty" is a military march by Edwin Franko Goldman (1878–1956). It vies with "On the Mall" (another march) as Goldman's greatest hit. Many think "Chimes of Liberty" is a re-working of the Liberty Bell (march) by John Philip Sous ...
" by Edwin Franko Goldman


References


External links


The Liberty Bell (audio file)
– In
MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and ...
format; from th
John Philip Sousa website
maintained by David Lovrien, hosted by the
Dallas Wind Symphony The Dallas Winds (also known as the Dallas Wind Symphony or DWS) is a professional concert band based in Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Winds was founded in 1985 by Kim Campbell and Southern Methodist University music professor Howard Dunn. It was ori ...

The ''Monty Python'' versionarchived
– In MP2 format; from th
same website

An 1896 Recording (Probably the first)
played by the Edison Grand Concert Band, from the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Sheet music
for a piano arrangement, courtesy of the Mutopia Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty Bell, The American military marches Sousa marches 1893 compositions Concert band pieces Monty Python Songs written by John Philip Sousa Comedy television theme songs