The Stars and Stripes Forever March, written by John Philip Sousa in 1896, is now available on Concert Cylinder from the Vulcan Cylinder Record Company.

The USA’s National March, The Stars and Stripes Forever March, has been released on Concert Cylinder by the Vulcan Cylinder Record Company.

This track, written by John Philip Sousa in 1896, is widely recognised as his most important work.

This, in Sousa’s own words, is how it was written:

“Here came one of the most vivid incidents of my career. As [the Teutonic] steamed out of the harbor I was pacing on the deck … Suddenly, I began to sense a rhythmic beat of a band playing within my brain. Throughout the whole … voyage, that imaginary band continued to unfold the same themes, echoing and re-echoing the most distinct melody. I did not transfer a note of that music to paper while I was on the steamer, but when we reached shore, I set down the measures that my brain-band had been playing for me, and not a note of it has ever changed.”