"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 "The Devil's Deputy" before financing for the show fell through. Shortly afterwards, while attending the Columbian Exposition in

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, Sousa and his band manager George Hinton watched the spectacle "America", in which a backdrop depicting the Liberty Bell 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 The John Church Company Building is a historic commercial building in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. Designed by one of Cincinnati's most prominent architects, it was home to one of the country's leading vendors of sheet music and musi ...

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

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: 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 agai ...

,''Bill Clinton Presidential Inauguration 1993 (Part 1 of 3)''
see 6:21–9:10, on

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the 2005 inauguration of President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

, the 2009 and 2013 inaugurations of President

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, and the 2017 inauguration of President

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. 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

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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'' (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

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"splat" sound reminiscent of a

whoopee cushion A whoopee (or whoopie) cushion is a practical joke device involving flatulence humour, which produces a noise resembling human flatulence. It has also been referred to as a farting bag, pooting cushion, windy blaster and Razzberry Cushion. Histo ...

(the first 13 episodes used a " raspberry"). At the end of the film ''

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl ''Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl'' is a 1982 British concert comedy film directed by Terry Hughes (with the film segments by Ian MacNaughton) and starring the Monty Python comedy troupe (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, E ...

'', 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 ...

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 ''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

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