Washington, D.C. native and legendary bandmaster John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) wrote a dozen operettas, six full-length operas, and over 100 marches, earning the title “March King”. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps at an early age and went on to become the conductor of the President’s Own Marine Band at age 26. In 1892 he formed “Sousa and his Band”, which toured the United States and the world under his directorship for the next forty years to great acclaim. Not only was Sousa’s band hugely popular, but it also exposed audiences all over the world to the latest, cutting-edge music, bringing excerpts of Wagner’s Parsifal to New York a decade before the Metropolitan Opera staged it, and introducing ragtime to Europe, helping to spark many a composer’s interest in American music.
Sousa originally wrote Liberty Bell in 1893. It features the chimes, perhaps in homage to the famous American landmark after which it is named. The march is now most famous for its use as the theme song to Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
The march as used in the opening of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the 1970s British comedy show:
Now here it is in full played by the US Marine Band, complete with a short explanation of the piece by their conductor:
As played by the Rutgers Euphonium Choir:
Program notes on the march from the Concord (MA) Band.
A wealth of information on the Liberty Bell itself, famous crack and all.
The US Marine Band has a fantastic, public domain version of Liberty Bell, available to anyone for free!