John Philip Sousa for Monty Python's Flying Circus), "The Thunderer" and "The Washington Post". Sousa began his career playing violin and studying music theory and composition under John Esputa and George Felix Benkert. His father enlisted him in the United States Marine Band as an apprentice in 1868. After departing the band in 1875, Sousa learned to conduct. From 1880 until his death, he focused exclusively on conducting and the writing of music. He eventually rejoined the Marine Band and served there for 12 years as director. On leaving the Marine Band, Sousa organized his own band. Sousa aided in the development of
The Gladiator March Traveler. Sousa had not written many marches before that, and none of them received great popularity. The Gladiator, however, sold over a million copies - a record for the time and was soon performed frequently. It follows normal march style, IAABBCCDCDC, and is played at the normal pace of most marches: 120-128 beats per minute. Although marches such as "Semper Fidelis", "The Washington Post", "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Hands Across the Sea" have achieved greater popularity, the "Gladiator" is still regarded as John Philip Sousa's first success. The Gladiator March "The Gladiator" is a march by John Philip Sousa,