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At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Sousa, John P. (1854-1932) to John W. Hughes

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC05508.231 Author/Creator: Sousa, John P. (1854-1932) Place Written: s.l. Type: Typed letter signed Date: 12 March 1930 Pagination: 1 p. 25.5 x 21.7 cm Order a Copy

Sousa writes to Hughes remarking that the only way of judging music is whether or not it has beauty. He discusses differences between composers of the "olden days" and those of today. Sousa believes inspiration for writing music comes from something above oneself, and that contemporary compositions written from knowledge of harmonic structure alone lack the quality of inspiration.

Sousa, John Philip, 1854-1932

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