Happy Birthday, US Marine Band!

Greetings!:

 

In the name of the House of Old-School, and though it is rather late in the day, I extend my heartiest congratulations and best wishes to "The President's Own" United States Marine Band on the occasion of its 208th anniversary! 

 

As all Marines (obviously I was not one) will know, the Corps observes 10 November, the day on which it was established, after a manner since the present Government had not yet been established by then, in 1775.  It actually became part of the present Government by an act of Congress on 11 July, 1798, and, as part of that act, the United States Marine Band was also created, thus making it the oldest continuously-operating musical organization in the US Military.  Thus, since the Corps has appropriated 10 November as its birthday, the Band now has 11 July to itself, and thus they observe their _ONLY_ establishment anniversary on that day! 

 

The Band started as a fife-and-drum corps in Philadelphia, but moved here to the present Nation's Capital when it was established in 1801 (or 1800?).  President Jefferson, the first President to be inaugurated in this city, came to call the Band "The President's Own," and it has performed for every US President since then, though I feel there is still work to be done to determine, if this can indeed be done accurately, as to when it started supporting inaugurations, the Band's current belief being that this started with President Jefferson, and one source I recently consulted (one of the Inaugural websites, though not necessarily the one linked to from this blog) has it accompanying him back to the White House after he was sworn in for his second term in 1805.  In Dr. Paul F. Boller's book, _Presidential_ _Inaugurations_, he conjectures that it started supporting these in 1821.  Most of the early inaugurations were held indoors (often in the Senate Chamber), so one must assume there was no music for the actual swearing-in, this presumably being limited to escorts as above, or to the balls when they started (the afternoon parades did not really come into their own until the late 19th Century, much of the pageantry prior to then being focused on escorting the President and President Elect to the swearing-in ceremony). 

 

The Band gradually became transformed from that first fife-and-drum corps into the superb professional ensemble it is today.  It continued to play at the White House and at important national events, one of the most significant of these being at Gettysburg on 19 November, 1863, when President Lincoln gave his immortal address there.  Yet a particularly important period in its history occurred between 1880 and 1892 when its 17th Director (they were called Leaders in those days), John Philip Sousa, was in charge.  He improved the Band's technical and musical standards, and began the practice of taking it on an annual concert tour so that those outside this area could have more of an opportunity to experience it.  And so it went into the 20th Century up to 1955 when a development happened which I personally feel improved this Organization even further.  The man who would eventually become Colonel Albert Schoepper became its 22nd Director.  For the first time so far as I know, an arranging staff was established, and, particularly throughout the 1960's, I personally feel the Band again improved as per its playing, and Colonel Schoepper, as far as I am concerned, was a _MARVELLOUSLY_ musical conductor!  I hear he could also be quite tough and intimidating, and _MAYBE_ that is how he got some of his results, though it would appear that he might not get such in our day when authoratarian approaches, it must be somewhat-reluctantly admitted, sometimes, if not often, backfire (yet, in the tradition of this blog, would that we could get back to obedience to lawful orders and, yes, _DEFERENCE_ from those under them, without those in leadership having to resort to tyrannical leadership techniques!).  My first exposures to the Band were through the annual tree-lighting ceremonies which open our Christmas Pageant of Peace, and I actually date my becoming fully interested from that ceremony in 1960, though, due to the cold weather, it did not play at its best.  It sounded similar to me on that _FRIGID_ day about a month later when President Kennedy was sworn in, but a recently-acquired DVD containing an abridged version of that ceremony has them sounding even better, so _HOPEFULLY_ they were not resorting to pre-recorded music for that newsreel (the acoustic would suggest that they were not).  I attended my first Marine Band concert in the Summer of 1962, when Watergate meant a music barge just off the bank of the Potomac just below the Lincoln Memorial (as well as a fine nearby restaurant, the Watergate Inn).  After another Watergate concert in 1963, my mother and I started frequently attending its other Summer concerts, on the East Plaza of the Capitol (these would move to their present site, the lower West Terrace, in the mid-to-late 1970's, and inaugurations would also move to that side in 1981).   I believe I first met Colonel Schoepper in 1965, and, though he could be moody, he was always decent with me, and we even had some contact after his retirement in 1972.  I have had the privilege of knowing all of his successors, as well as his immediate predecessor, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Santelmann (who, of course, I met after the fact as it were).  Colonel John R. Bourgeois, 25th Director and the Band's current Director Imeritus, served as Operations NCO under Colonel Schoepper, in which capacity I first met him, and he was my other favourite among the former Directors I have known.  He, along with his two successors, Colonel Timothy W. Foley and the current Director, Lieutenant Colonel Michael J. Colburn, are, as far as I am concerned, as intelligent as they come, and the latter has already become a special favourite of mine as well! 

 

"The President's Own" actually consists of more than that superb band, also including a chamber orchestra, which plays frequently at the White House, notably at state dinners, and now gives increasingly-frequent public concerts, and various chamber ensembles, combos, etc.  Another of Colonel Schoepper's innovations was to bring in a vocalist, and now there are two, Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Bennear and the first female to hold this particular position (though there are now many other women in the Organization), Staff Sergeant Sara Dell'Omo. 

 

Although I greeted this Organization as part of my general greeting which concluded my "Honours and Greetings" post earlier in this blog, I wanted to devote this individual post to it since it has been a _MOST_ important part of my life!  Though various musical organizations participated, via recordings, in the securing and activation ceremony for this blog on 2 June, the Marine Band was the featured one, and, as I once told Colonel Foley, I would, if allowed, like to consider this organization not only "The President's Own," but _MY_ own as well!  Should you be interested in more information, you may find it on the Band's official website, a link to which may be found in the "favorite links" section of my profile. 

 

Once again many congratulations and best wishes come from this house to "The President's Own" on this, their 208th anniversary! 

 

Gratefully, respectfully and joyfully submitted,

 

J. V.