Into the Pit

This chapter details John Philip Sousa's career as a violinist, his earliest efforts as a composer, and his first tours away from Washington as a professional theater musician. By 1874, Sousa had gained at least some experience as a violinist for light opera, the tradition in which he would soon make his mark as an arranger and composer. Sousa also worked at the Washington Theatre Comique. Moreover, he published three works during the early 1970s, all piano pieces on dance forms: Moonlight on the Potomac Waltzes, “Review,” and “Cuckoo.” While Sousa was conducting incidental music for Milton Nobles's play Jim Bludso, or, Bohemians and Detectives—which was presented at Kernan's Theatre Comique between June 21 and June 26, 1875—Nobles was impressed by the young conductor, and a few days later he sent Sousa a telegram asking that he join the troupe on tour. Sousa would then tour the Midwest and the southern United States for the next two months.