Marching Through Georgia: Concert Band, Ensemble Works, Conductor Score

It was no small feat when John Philip Sousa convinced officials in the U.S. Marine Corps to allow the Marine Band to go on a tour of the U.S. under the management of David Blakely. In fact, Sousa went to the President of the United States to get approval for the band's first extended tour. It is not surprising to note that Sousa took special care to prepare new compositions and adaptions to show the band (and himself) in the highest artistic light. The patrol, MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA, was one of these special tour adaptations, and it has remained unpublished since it was first arranged in 1891. The song was actually composed in 1865 by one of the great American song-writers of the civil war, Henry Clay Work (1832-1884), and Sousa arranged the song for his band in 1891. This publication has been edited by Michael Golemo with historical notes by Loras J. Schissel.