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Keeping Step with the Union March
Keeping Step with the Union March from The Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa: Vol. 5

 

“Keeping Step with the Union” (1921)

   

The inspiration for this march probably came from an 1855 address by the American congressman and raconteur Rufus Choate. This excerpt from the address is printed on the sheet music: “We join ourselves to no party that does not carry the flag and keep step to the music of the Union.” The composition was dedicated to Mrs. Warren G. Harding, wife of the President, and Sousa added his own patriotic verses.

Paul E. Bierley, The Works of John Philip Sousa (Westerville, Ohio: Integrity Press, 1984), 66. Used by permission.