Sousa & Sousaphone history for kids!

I had the opportunity to help out with a project this past year that was produced by Alfred Music, and a complimentary copy arrived in the mail today. It is "An Interactive Storybook About John Philip Sousa," but it also reveals the history of the first Sousaphone - which is that part I helped with, of course!

Here are a few of the pages that highlight the history of the Sousaphone:

It is recommended for all ages, but it will be particularly appropriate for younger kids. Alfred Music did a great job with this, and I am grateful for Andy Beck, one of the authors, asking me to participate in the project.

For more info on this digital storybook, click here, or check out this video:

Update: To see other, older, children's resources that don't get the history right, click here.

Sousaphone solo by Herman Conrad

Conrad was often listed among the soloists in Sousa's band, but I have yet to find any record of him actually playing a solo in concert during those years (1892-1903). But in the July 25, 1905 edition of the Asbury Park Press, Conrad is listed as playing the solo "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep" on the Sousaphone with Pryor's Band.

Whether Conrad was a regular with Pryor at that time is yet to be determined. As far as I can tell, from 1903 onward he was part of the elite group of musicians known as the Victor Orchestra (among other names), making records for the Victor Talking Machine Company, first in Philadelphia, and then in Camden, NJ.

An interesting question would be what Sousaphone Conrad might have played in 1905. Was it the one he had played while with Sousa, or did that remain with the band? Or could he have been reunited with the Pepper Sousaphone? Who knows!

Conrad with Gilmore's Band, 1889

As I continue to research the life and musical career of Herman Conrad, the first Sousaphonist, I am learning a great deal about the great bandmaster who came before Sousa - Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore.

Conrad emigrated from Prussia to the U. S. in late 1887, and within months he had joined Gilmore's Band - which means he must have been a hot-shot bassist already, probably with one of the military bands of the Prussian Army (I'm still trying to track that down).

Had Gilmore summoned Conrad, having heard that he was already an accomplished bass player? I have learned that Gilmore kept track of the best bandsmen in Europe, and often successfully recruited them into his band. He always wanted the best players, so at the very least, we have to assume that Conrad was as good a player as any, and Gilmore was able to add him to the group.

Here is Gilmore's Band a year or so later, in 1889, on the steps of the St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall, and you can see Conrad in the upper right, holding a massive helicon bass (but check out some of the other interesting instruments in the band - the other helicon, which has rotary valves, and seems to have a slightly curved-up bell, the bass saxophone, the sarrusophone, the antoniophones, and more!).

Courtesy of the Missouri History Museum, St. Louis.

That huge BBb bass was built by Henry Gunckel of Paris and referred to as a "Monster" (and it was imported into the U. S. by Lyon & Healy from as early as 1880). Whether Conrad brought that horn with him, or it was given to him by Gilmore when he arrived, we simply can't say. But here's a closer look at the instrument:

And here's that same horn, advertised nine years earlier, in the 1880 Lyon & Healy catalogue.

Note the price - a whopping $330! By comparison, the second Conn Sousaphone, built almost 20 years later, sold for a mere $250. That helicon must have been some horn! And Conrad played it not only during his time with Gilmore, but also for the first few years he was with Sousa's Band.

But Sousa was not a fan of helicon basses - even expensive, well-crafted ones like this one (assuming it was both of those things)! In 1892, he pitched the idea to J. W. Pepper for a modified helicon that turned the huge bell straight up, and in 1895, Pepper finally made the very first one. From that point on, as far as we can tell, Conrad only ever played a Sousaphone during his remaining years with Sousa (ending after the 1903 season).