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Summary: Sousa's Capitan

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MUSI 730 Anglo-American Operetta and Musical Theatre I
Assignment 2, Article Summary by Natalie Duchen Summary
“Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!” These words, which rang throughout the United States during 1898, reflected the brash mood of a nation on the threshold of global power.” –C. Hess
John Phillip Sousa’s 1896 El Capitan was an operetta, buffa, an instantaneous hit and was a representation of Spanish administration in colonial Peru. El Capitan revolves around the adventures of Don Meguida, who (although it was an unwise decision) was appointed viceroy of colonial Peru.
            Another factor that made the show of El Capitan widely popular was the “varied score.” Sousa used different forms of “Spanish” music, which appealed to the audience because of its exoticism. This had become popular and applauded by audiences after Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado. There was also strong significance in Sousa’s marches, which were El Capitan’s most profound musical element. The band music had a symbolic function as exemplifying the democratic ideals in turn-of-the century America. Band music was seen to provide a political message, which appealed to Sousa’s public. The band music could have sent the message of “happy Peruvians” that were incapable of conducting themselves, which rang true to the anti-Hispanic feelings of the time.
            In an 1898 New York production  a week after the explosion of the battleship Maine, unfortunately the American public was quick to blame the Spaniards for the incident, with public figures trashing Spanish national character. When entering the theater for the performance American flags were handed out with programs. The performance ran through without interruption until act 3 which features the representation of the Spanish military. The crowd stayed subdued with the display of Spanish colors, but were then surprised by the presence of the Seventh Regiment Band, wearing American colors, which made the crowd erupt with cheering and showed immense amounts of patriotism.
Sources
In the article Carol A. Hess cites several articles by two professors, Henry Watterson and Henry C. Lea, as well as historian Francis Parkman. Hess also talks about specific moments in the score of El Capitan; through the course of the article Hess pulls specific examples from the score to analyze their effect of the cultural identity as well as what impression this will give the audience.
Significance
            This article researches the idea of the Anglo-Saxon views on the Spanish culture and how cultural appropriation truly played into public attitudes. In terms of musical significance, this show incorporated “Spanish” musical styles, which was popular to audiences because of the “exotic” music that was also seen in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado. Besides the use of the “Spanish” musical styles, there was also Sousa’s incorporation of march music. There were many ways the public could translate the idea of march music, but for Sousa’s audience it mirrored an anti-Hispanic view that was being held at the time.  
 

This page has paths:

  1. Literature Summaries & Research Abstracts Steven Gerber

This page has tags:

  1. Work: Capitan Steven Gerber
  2. Person: Sousa, John Philip Steven Gerber
  3. Topic: Musical/Theatrical Features Steven Gerber
  4. Topic: Colonialism/Imperialism Steven Gerber
  5. Topic: Cultural Appropriation Steven Gerber

Contents of this tag:

  1. Participant: Duchen, Natalie