Hands Across The Sea

In 1899 a march by John Philip Sousa (1854-1932) had its premiere in the Philadelphia Academy of Music, which later was to become one of his greatest successes: “Hands Across The Sea“.

In an account, he gave in the "Great Lakes Recruit" of March 1918, Sousa said: “After the Spanish war there was some feeling in Europe anent our republic regarding this war. Some of the nations … thought we were not justified while others gave us credit for the honesty of our purpose. One night I was reading an old play (by Frere) and I came across this line, ‘A sudden thought strikes me – let us swear an eternal friendship.’ That almost immediately suggested the title ‘Hands Across The Sea’ for that composition and within a few weeks that now famous march became a living fact.”

If “Hands Across The Sea” ever was a “political march” when it was composed, Sousa later construed it as a piece that was dedicated to all friends of the United States of America. “Hands Across The Sea” thus heralded the European tours which he undertook with his band in 1900, 1901, 1903 and 1905 and it applied of course to the world tour of 1910 which had Sousa and his band visiting Great Britain, the Canary Islands, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, the Fiji Islands, Hawaii and Canada before returning to the USA.