Almost a century later, we can only listen to Sousa via old recordings, and there aren't many around because Sousa believed that they were the worst thing that could happen to music. He also wasn't a fan of radio, but in the later years of his career he did finally start to unbend a little.
He's most remembered now for the many marches he wrote, and some are still a regular part of any marching band's repertoire, but he also composed operettas and other works of music. There were also a few pieces that sort of fell in the middle. "Fairest Of The Fair" was nominally a march, but a sprightly and melodic one that - so it's said - Sousa wrote when inspired by the sight of a pretty girl. Hey, maybe it was grandma!
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