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A notable early American piece inspired by George Washington, posted today in celebration of his 280th birthday.

Washington’s March was composed by Philip Pfiel for the first president’s 1789 journey from Philadelphia to the then-capitol of New York and was performed for Washington en route at Trenton, New Jersey. That year it became the first patriotic sheet music to be published in the United States and by the turn of the century it was available under the imprint of several different publishers. Nearly a decade after Pfiel composed the march Joseph Hopkinson supplied it with new verses and changed its title to Hail Columbia, in doing so creating the first patriotic song with both words and music of American origin.

[From the Lester S. Levy Collection at Johns Hopkins University]