NOW IN THE "PEOPLE'S" KEY OF B-FLAT MAJOR! INCLUDES PERCUSSION, TIMPANI AND BELL PARTS FOR EXTRA ADDED FLAVOR

"High School Cadets" is a march written in 1890 by John Philip Sousa in honor of the cadet drill team of Washington High School in the District of Columbia. It is in regimental march form (I-AA-BB-CC-DD) and is a popular selection for the school concert and marching bands, as well as for professional orchestras and bands. The march has been arranged for a wide variety of instruments and ensembles and has been frequently recorded, including at least two recorded performances by Sousa's own band. The mutual admiration which existed between John Philip Sousa and the school bands of America has caused many musicians and writers to conclude that this march was composed as a salute to the school band movement. However, it was written twenty years before that movement had begun. It was composed at the solicitation of the marching cadet corps of the one and only Washington, D.C, high school in 1890 (later called Central High School) and was dedicated to the teachers and pupils. The High School Cadets was another of the drill teams which was an exciting part of the capital city scene for many years after the Civil War. The members requested the march of Sousa, asking that he make an effort to make it superior to his “National Fencibles” march, which he had written for a rival cadet corps. In Sousa’s estimation, it was indeed a better march. The music world has concurred, because “The High School Cadets” has always been one of Sousa’s most popular marches. The Cadets were invited to a Marine Band rehearsal to hear the march played. They liked what they heard and produced $24 to cover the cost of having the march published and copyrighted.