![]() The nine-week tour of the Midwest and New England was enough of a success to establish Sousa and Blakely as the premiere team in the popular music field.Ībout the time that Blakely and Sousa were forming the new band, P.S. The first tour of the group culminated in the dedication of the new buildings of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The band was called the “New Marine Band,” changed to “Sousa's Peerless Concert Band,” and finally just “Sousa's Band.” With Sousa's consent, preparations began.ĭuring the summer and fall of 1892 the band was formed by contracting and auditioning well-known musicians. Marine Band, its enormous success prompted Blakely to ask Sousa if he would consider leaving Washington to form the “New Marine Band” to be based in Chicago. After Blakely had arranged the second tour of the U.S. He tried to sign up Wettge from France and Komzak from Austria, but neither could obtain sufficient leave to come to the U.S.įinally Blakely saw that his desire for a great American Band of his own could be realized in J.P. He travelled to Europe looking for an established military man to lead a U.S. Marine Band was under governmental jurisdiction and therefore outside of Blakely's exclusive managerial control. His reasons for wanting a popular attraction were many: the “ladies orchestra” project had failed because they could not assemble a sufficient woodwind section, and the Eduard Strauss tour of 1891 was almost concelled because of a Congressional bill preventing foreign musical “competition” on American soil. It would be modeled after the great bands of Europe. band with a prominent band leader exclusively under his management. This tour of 1891 was so successful that Blakely decided to try forming a major U.S. Marine Band and its director John Philip Sousa. Gilmore, Theodore Thomas, Eduard Strauss and John Philip Sousa.īlakely had managed Gilmore and Thomas in the 1880's with much success. One time secretary of state of Minnesota, president of the Minneapolis Philharmonic, editor/owner of a Minneapolis newspaper and founder of the Blakely Printing Company, David Blakely combined all these skills to head one of the most successful concert artist management firms in history. ![]() Little has been written concerning the early life and career of David Blakely.
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