John Philip Sousa, also known as the "March King," was born on November 6,1854, in Washington D.C., near the marine barracks where his father, Antonio, was a musician in the marine band . He received his grammar school education in Washington and for several of his school years enrolled in a private conservatory of music operated by John Esputa, Jr. . There he studied piano and most of the orchestral instruments, but his main passion was the violin. He became very good at the violin, and at age 13 he was almost persuaded

The military was important to Sousa's music style. His main musical compositions were marches, which were the most widely used form of music in the military. His first two marches that he wrote as leader of the band, "The Gladiator" and "Semper Fidelis," were received with great acclaim in military band circles and from that time on he received ever-increasing attention and respect as a composer . Both of these marches were high-spirited and uplifting, just the thing to raise moral among the troops as well as promote nationalism within the states.

In this case it is very hard to find the "Zeitgeist" in Sousa's compositions of this time. In fact they even seem to contradict the spirit of that era. All of the marches that Sousa wrote during the gilded age were extremely upbeat and energetic, while the time was corrupt and backhanded. This is because Sousa was responding to the negative messages being sent out by the political society by helping Americans realize how great their nation is. All of his musical pieces expressed a certain proud nationalism that helped the people cope with the harsh times.

After being discharged from the Marine Corps, Sousa toured with several traveling theater orchestras and in 1876 moved to Philadelphia. There he worked as an arranger, composer, and proofreader for publishing houses . While on tour with an opera company in St. Louis, he received a telegram offering him leadership of the Marine Band in Washington. He accepted and reported for duty on October 1, 1880, becoming the band's 17th leader .

In 1889, Sousa wrote a march called "The Washington Post" march

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