Today would have been Paul Bierley’s 100th birthday. Paul (1926-2016) was a tubist, engineer and band researcher who was recognized by music scholars from around the country as the foremost historian of the music and life of John Philip Sousa. He spent over 40 years collecting material about Sousa’s life, band, and music. Paul’s meticulous and wide-ranging research led to the publication of several definitive works on Sousa: John Philip Sousa: A Catalogue of His Works, which continues to provide a wealth of details about Sousa’s musical and literary works, a scholarly biography, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon that details Sousa’s life and career, and The Incredible Band of John Philip Sousa, published by the University of Illinois Press.
Paul’s other scholarly publications include Hallelujah Trombone (a biography of Henry Fillmore), The Music of Henry Fillmore and Henry Huff, Nineteenth Century American Musical Theater, Later Operetta, Part 1 (El Capitan), and a revised edition of Sousa’s Marching Along. Paul also served as editor for the two volume set of William Rehrig’s 1991 The Heritage Encyclopedia Band Music (Volume 3, Supplement, 1996). In addition, he published many Sousa-related journal articles about the Sousa Band and provided liner notes for numerous sound recordings of Sousa’s music.
Paul was educated as an aeronautical engineer at Ohio State University. During his 35-year career designing airplanes and missiles, he also pursued an active career as a musician. As a child, he began playing the music of Sousa as a tubist in his high school band, and later played the tuba in such ensembles as the Columbus Symphony Orchestra and the Detroit Concert Band. To honor his 40 years of research and scholarly publications on Sousa and band history, Ohio State University awarded Paul an honorary doctorate in 2001. He was also awarded the Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts Award from the National Band Association in the same year.
Paul’s music and papers are now preserved as part of the Sousa Archive’s extensive archival collections documenting John Philip Sousa’s life and career. For further information about the Paul E Bierley Papers, contact Scott Schwartz at 217-333-4577 or email schwrtzs@illinois.edu.