The Gladiator March
Encyclopedia
"The Gladiator" is a march by John Philip Sousa
, written in 1886 while Sousa was leader of the US Marine Band.
The Gladiator was written as a tribute to Charles B. Towle, a journalist at the Boston Traveler. The journalist introduced him to the Knights Templar. Speculation has long surrounded the title for the piece, but one hypothesis is that the title referred to Towle himself, a gladiator of sorts who used a pen instead of a sword. Another plausible hypothesis is that the piece may have been written about an article Towle wrote for the Boston Traveler.
Sousa had not written many marches before that, and none of them received great popularity. The Gladiator, however, sold over a million copies - a record for the time and was soon performed frequently. It follows normal march style, IAABBCCDCDC, and is played at the normal pace of most marches: 120-128 beats per minute. Although marches such as Semper Fidelis, The Washington Post, Stars and Stripes Forever and Hands Across the Sea
have achieved greater popularity, the Gladiator is still regarded as John Philip Sousa's first success.
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
, written in 1886 while Sousa was leader of the US Marine Band.
The Gladiator was written as a tribute to Charles B. Towle, a journalist at the Boston Traveler. The journalist introduced him to the Knights Templar. Speculation has long surrounded the title for the piece, but one hypothesis is that the title referred to Towle himself, a gladiator of sorts who used a pen instead of a sword. Another plausible hypothesis is that the piece may have been written about an article Towle wrote for the Boston Traveler.
Sousa had not written many marches before that, and none of them received great popularity. The Gladiator, however, sold over a million copies - a record for the time and was soon performed frequently. It follows normal march style, IAABBCCDCDC, and is played at the normal pace of most marches: 120-128 beats per minute. Although marches such as Semper Fidelis, The Washington Post, Stars and Stripes Forever and Hands Across the Sea
Hands Across the Sea
Hands Across the Sea is a military march composed in 1899 by John Philip Sousa. Sousa told interviewers that the following phrase inspired him to compose the march:"A sudden thought strikes me; let us swear eternal friendship"...
have achieved greater popularity, the Gladiator is still regarded as John Philip Sousa's first success.
Recorded versions
- The Band of H.M. Coldstream Guards Cond. by Capt. J. Causley Windram. Recorded in LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on January 11, 1942. It was released by EMIEMIThe EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 9275.