Charles Ives' March "Omega Lambda Chi" was first heard in May 1896, played at an annual event held by Yale upperclassmen in order to dupe freshmen into providing them cigars and drinks, lest they be subjected to the "Pass of Thermopylae," a backside-challenging hazing ritual staged in the pass between Dwight and Alumni Halls. Omega Lambda Chi itself was a phony fraternity created in honor of fraternal societies banned by Yale in 1880, and it would find itself banned in 1900, forever shuttering the Pass of Thermopylae. The song "Sailing, Sailing" was published in 1880—the year the earlier fraternities were banned—and is extensively quoted in Ives' march, scored initially for an odd group of winds, 12 brass, and percussion. It didn't receive a formal premiere until July 13, 1965, when Keith Brion led it with the North Jersey Wind Symphony. Brion also edited March "Omega Lambda Chi" into a version for modern wind band in 1975, which has become the standard edition for concert performances. Ives also created a parallel version for solo piano, from which the band score was made; in September 2007, it remained unpublished.

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