The Man Behind the Gun

The Spanish War had a profound effect on Sousa, as did military life, evidenced in his march titles. Sousa is quoted as saying “A composition in march tempo must have the military instinct, and that is one reason why so few of the great composers have written successful marches. They lived in an atmosphere of peace. The roll of musketry had no meaning for them, so that quality is entirely absent from their work. The Spanish War was an inspiration to me. “The Man Behind the Gun” was a musical echo of it.” This Brass Quintet arrangement was made using “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band’s The Complete Marches of John Philip Sousa score as found at https://www.marineband.marines.mil/Audio-Resources/The-Complete-Marches-of-John-Philip-Sousa/. The Man Behind the Gun was composed in 1899, and the referenced edition was made Public Domain in 2018. The piece is catalogued as Volume 4, No. 57. Section titles (such as “First Strain” and “Trio”) follow the measure numbers provided by that edition. Each instrument follows its full-band part as often as possible, the only exception being Trombone covering the Euphonium/Baritone part. Because of this, Euphonium/Baritone would make a suitable substitute.