September 26th marks the 130th anniversary of the initial concert of Sousa’s New Marine Band held at the Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield, NJ. This would be the first of more than 15,550 concerts that would follow over the next thirty nine years which included four tours of Europe, a tour around the world, and thousands of concerts in the continental United States, Canada, and Cuba bringing international fame and fortune to John Philip Sousa while making him a household name both here and abroad.
Thanks to David Blakely, a wealthy businessman, publisher, and musical impresario who organized and managed the successful U.S. Marine Band tours in 1891 and 1892 under Sousa’s direction as well as other musical attractions, persuaded Sousa to give up his 12-year tenure as leader of the Marine Band and form a professional touring band of his own offering him four times his current salary, a percentage of future profits, as well as much greater residuals from a new music publisher. For John Philip Sousa, this was a dream come true and after two emotionally filled concerts with his beloved Marine Band on July 29th and 30th, 1892, Sousa received his discharge to begin his next exciting chapter.
After moving his family to New York where the new band was based, Sousa was consumed with auditioning potential musicians and selecting repertoire while Blakely and his ‘advance’ or front men’ were settling contracts and setting up the route for “Sousa’s New Marine Band,” the name by the way of Blakely’s choosing against Sousa’s wishes. The 1892 season of Sousa’s new band consisted of two tours of five and fours weeks each separated with a two week ‘layoff.” September of 1892 was an incredibly busy month as the new band was assembled and rehearsals held, ongoing negotiations with two uniform outfitters, and with the final route confirmed, both Sousa and Blakely were stunned by the news of Patrick Gilmore’s sudden death on the 24th while on tour with his famous band in St. Louis. While Sousa had tremendous respect and admiration for ‘the father of the American concert band,’ historian and author Patrick Warfield noted both he and Blakely must have secretly ‘breathed a guilty sigh of relief’ as the only true professional competition to Sousa’s new venture never materialized.
It is not known why New Jersey and why the Stillman Music Hall in Plainfield were selected as the launch site for Sousa’s new band; perhaps its proximity from New York by railroad as well as the hall’s excellent reputation for a securing major attractions such as future president Theodore Roosevelt and pugilist ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett we’ll never know?
The first concert on Monday evening was off to a shaky start as the featured Italian baritone soloist, Antonio Galassi, did not appear as his ship was quarantined in New York and the last minute substitution greatly disappointed the audience. The concert began with Sousa’s unprogrammed tribute to his late colleague Patrick Gilmore, with his “Voice of A Departing Soul.” As of this writing, no original program from this concert exists; however, the booklets from the second 1892 tour nearly replicate the initial concert with the exception of a euphonium solo replacing Schubert’s ballet music from “Rosamunde.”
Some thirty-five years later, Sousa would recount in his 1928 autobiography (pp. 127-128) the trials and tribulations of this first tour including an incident when Blakely wanted to the shut down the New England portion of the tour due to significant financial losses; however, according to Sousa, he prevailed and the tour continued with both artistic and financial success. After this, Sousa had a general distrust of managers which was exacerbated by Blakely’s untimely death in 1896 and the lawsuit that followed with his estate dragging on until April of 1900.
Regardless, it all began on this date in 1892!
Artifacts include: 1) Image of President Harrison’s reception following Sousa’s final Marine Band concert on July 30th, 1892 (from 1892 tour booklet of Sousa’s New Marine Band); 2) Collage showing original Plainfield contract and other related ephemera incl. Stillman Hall box office statement, baggage contract, road agent’s business card with carriage ride receipt on verso; 3) original 1892 photos of John Philip Sousa; 4) Imperial cabin photo showing Mr. Sousa in full view donning his new civilian band uniform. The 1892 inscription is to future band manager Col. George Frederick Hinton and autographed after the initial tour; 5) Decorative cover for the 1892 booklet programs; 6) November, 1892 concert program which was nearly identical to opening concert on September 26th.
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