The Stars and Stripes Forever
The Stars and Stripes Forever is a patriotic American march written by the "March King", composer John Philip Sousa. By an act of the U.S. Congress, it is the official National March of the United States of America.
During his career, Sousa wrote primarily patriotic music which included 10 operettas and 136 marches of which the Stars and Stripes and Liberty Bell are the most famous.
In his autobiography, Marching Along, Sousa wrote that he composed the Stars and Stripes on Christmas Day, 1896. He was on an ocean liner on his way home from a vacation with his wife in Europe and had just learned of the recent death of David Blakely, the manager of the Sousa Band. He composed the march in his head and committed the notes to paper on arrival in the United States. It was first performed at Willow Grove Park, just outside Philadelphia, on May 14, 1897, and was immediately greeted with enthusiasm.