Unsung History

[eschiss1]

The IMSLP worklist gives the Transit of Venus march date as 1883, but that could be publication date and should probably be corrected... (Bierley in John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon (appendix) also gives 1883 for its date actually. Hrm.)

A quick search at books.google.com , restricting dates to 1870 to 1888 and being careful about search terms, suggests that the march was premiered April 19, 1883. If it was composed in 1872 (when the transit of Venus occurred, I gather) then the composition was kept in desk drawer for 11 years - quite possible! It seems Sousa may have also written a novel with that title, even later on...

[JimL]

Several Venus venues played the march this last transit as our sister planet began her slow crawl across the face of the sun.