John Philip Sousa's "The Stars and Stripes Forever"

Let’s kick off this July 4 weekend with a bang! 💥 In 1896, Sousa penned his most famous composition, “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” But did you know that Sousa began imagining this composition in Europe while extremely homesick? In an interview, he shared with reporters the inspiration behind his masterpiece:

“I began to think of all the countries I had visited, of the foreign people I had met, of the vast difference between America and American people and other countries and other peoples, and that flag of ours became glorified...and to my imagination it seemed to be the biggest, grandest, flag in the world, and I could not get back under it quick enough. It was in this impatient, fretful state of mind that the inspiration to compose ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’ came to me, and to my imagination it was a genuine inspiration, irresistible, complete, definite, and I could not rest until I had finished the composition.”

We wish you a safe and happy Fourth of July, and may this performance inspire you to wave the red, white, and blue!

#FourthOfJuly | #IndependenceDay | #Sousa

The Stars and Stripes Forever 
John Philip Sousa

Credits
Colonel Don Schofield - Executive Producer
Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Hoffmann - Producer/Editor
Senior Master Sgt. Chad Randolph - Production Manager
Control Video 
Justin Lang Design - Lighting 
Senior Master Sgt. Jim DeVaughn - Senior Recording Engineer
Master Sgt. Josh Voyles, Technical Sgt. Pedro Rodríguez-Ramírez - Monitor Engineers
Master Sgt. (ret.) Mark Hannah - RF Engineer