Circus March Tempos

[Jedi Master]

Hey TubeNet!

I have a question about circus march tempos. Every time I play "Barnum & Bailey's Favorite" it is usually at a pretty brisk pace (mm @140-146), same is true for others, like "Circus Bee", "Rolling Thunder", and "Thunder and Blazes".

I was in a discussion with someone who insists that they should be played just like a regular march (mm 116-120). My question (especially to those of you who have actually played in circus bands!) is: Are those marches usually played at the faster tempo, in a circus situation, or are they played at a standard march tempo?

[hbcrandy]

I played a local run in Baltimore with Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey in the middle 1980's. Though, the specific marches that you mentioned were not in the book that year, the few marches and galops we played (most of the book was big-band jazz oriented) went like the wind. Many times, the conductor took them in one rather than 2 beats per measure.

[THE TUBA]

Circus marches are usually meant to be played very fast.

[Mister JP]

When in doubt, see the meter marking on the individual piece.

Usually circus marches when played in concert setting (not actually marching) will be played quick, like 140 - 150 range. I've seen marching bands play circus marches actually marching in parades, but will play them around 120.

[EdFirth]

In practical application the tempo is usually adjusted to fit the act. On Circus Vargas we played Kentucky Sunrise, which is a real burner, Very slowly for a dressage{single horse} act while on the Beatty show they played the storm scene from William Tell , albeit not a circus march in a Fast One. But in a concert the tunes Do have meter markings which can be used with great effectiveness or not. I hear alot of bands playing Entry of the Gladiators as fast and faster than they can which is fun but it is a Spec{the parade st the beginning of the show} march and is very cool as just that too. It's just nice to know they are still being played at any spped as they are fun, challenging, and a cool piece of history. Ed

[TWScott283]

I believe F.A.F. is the correct tempo for all Circus Marches.

[skeath]

Most often, circus marches were intended to accompany galloping horses, so they were fairly (to very) fast, although, as others have noted, it depended on the act. True galops ("The Big Cage") were done in 1, as they did not accompany horses, but the lion/tiger act. Specialty numbers ("Kentucky Sunrise") often accompanied the clowns, so they were often very fast. Note that it is not proper performance practice to add a molto retard to the last time through the trio, as is often done by concert bands.

[Teubonium]

When I was in college (U. of Iowa) Karl King himself was a guest conductor at one of our concerts. Among other things, we played his Circus Days march under his direction. It went faster than hell, he took it in one beat per measure.

I remember the French horns struggling with eighth rest/eighth note off beats. He suggested what he called "an old circus band trick" which was to forget the rests and just play continuous eighth notes.

[OldsRecording]

Frederic Fenell always took circus marches absurdly fast. Sometimes he'd conduct them in 1.

[tofu]

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[tofu]

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[eupher61]

again, I"ve gotta say---www.tubagear.com Look for recordings on the left side, look for Merle Evans

The NEC Circus Band recording is no longer available, at least temporarily, but there are a couple of recordings led by Mr Evans. One with the 1941 RBBB band, one with an all star band from 1959. Neither has "tempo di breakneck" except for the galops.

The NEC recording has a couple galops, and I'm surprised at how slow they are.

The "grand entry" marches were never intended to be fast, they were for marching.
That includes "Entry of the Gladiators"

These recordings are by THE man of classic circus music. Maybe they don't show the way things were done during a show, but certainly during the concert. And, on the NEC recording, Mr Evans talks about how he'd plan the music to match the acts.

[Z-Tuba Dude]

The "grand entry" marches were never intended to be fast, they were for marching.
That includes "Entry of the Gladiators"

Is "Thunder and Blazes" aka "Entry of the Galdiators", exclusively used as a "grand entry" march, or might it be used to accompany an act?

[Frank Byrne]

I did quite a study of this and listened to a lot of recordings in preparation for my consulting work on the CD project "Under the Big Top" for Angel records.

Listen to Merle Evans' recording of "Barnum and Bailey's" on the old recording Dave Gannett sells -- it's not that fast. I've heard other recordings of the Ringling Bros Band where it's not a blazing tempo.

The GALOPS were insanely fast. No question about it. The marches were not categorically fast. The other pieces varied greatly. Ragtime like pieces like "Kentucky Sunrise" and "Booster Rag" were NOT fast at all. Novelty numbers like "Jungle Queen" were not fast either.

Check out the old recordings with Merle conducting if you can. Worth it on several levels.

Frank

[eupher61]

yeah, well, classic rodeo brass band is a totally different animal.

The only time I've double-tongued a I-V bass line. THAT was tempo di kickyerass.

[pigman]

T he last Ringling show i did had the Circus Bee in it. It opened the 2nd act. as I recall It was played in a fast 1. I got it down to being able to play the march in two breaths. the secret is light and fast
Ray Noguera