Program Notes

The Invincible Eagle

John Philip Sousa, composer

Heralded as one of his finest marches, The Invincible Eagle was composed by Sousa on a train between Buffalo and New York. The march was composed for the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo. Soon after its premiere, Sousa described the conviction and artistic spirit which compelled him to write this great march: "The new march, The Invincible Eagle, is what I call one of my sunshine marches. Some of my heavy marches are intended to convey the impression of the stir and strife of warfare, but The Invincible Eagle shows the military spirit at its lightest and brightest—the parade spirit."

—WGM

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