Last night at community band we played Karl King's March Ponderoso for the first time. The director wanted to know if it was a circus screamer so he would know the tempo at which to take it. Nobody knew.
So my question is,
What makes a march a circus screamer?
Is it just the tempo at which it is played or is there some other characteristic that defines it? Just tradition? The fact that KK wrote it?! Or ?
Chime in please TNFJ! Inquiring minds want to know!
Karl King was a baritone playnig circus composer. The music was not written as "concert music" but as background for the various acts. Therefore they can be played at whatever tempo the group finds fits it's needs programittacily so your conductor can do what they will and it's still within the parameters of the original concept. It was and is incredible background music that can stand on it's own at any doable tempo. Ed
I was at various times a member of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Band, the Royal Ranch Wild West Circus Band, the Pan American Circus band, the All-American Circus Band, the Wallenda Circus Band and others. I knew Merle Evans, Karl King, Al Youngman, Chuck Schlarbaum, Jim Gibson, Ronnie Drumm and Bill Pruyn as bandleaders, and was a circus bandleader myself. I never heard marches referred to as "screamers" - EVER. Everybody gets this from Freddy Fennell's one recording of circus music by a college band NOT a circus band.
Fennell's record was dismissed by Karl King - who a personal friend and benefactor of mine - as "marches are too fast and the galops too slow" - period. The musicians are great - John McEnulty is the other tuba player on that record, and he was great, too. Jeanne Alliger was one of the trombonists (all Remington students at that time) on that record, and confirmed that Fennell rehearsed the tunes for two semesters before recording it. I 'm not sure Fennell ever attended a circus from the way he conducted those tunes - the sound is sterile; no real dynamic changes - no sizzle, but everybody plays all the correct notes. Plus - no Fred Jewell, no Russ Alexander, no W.P. English - the guy didn't know the literature/composers, period. In Storm and Sunshine is not a galop - it's rocking 6/8 march when played at MARCH tempo and the low brass can get their teeth into it. King didn't have much use for the term "wind ensemble" - his pronouncement was "just a circus band with bassoons..."
March Ponderoso can be played at different tempos - I've posted this before - circus music has to fit the act; ergo tempos must be flexible to "fit". There is no "official tempo". Merle used to use Ponderoso for "blow off" - at the end of the show to clear out the rubes (customers). HIS tempo would be around MM=130 or so, depending on how the band was feeling after playing continuously for 3 hours straight. Keep in mind that King would have been just as pleased to hear Ponderoso played on the march by a parade band coming down the street at MM=116 as hearing it in a circus or rodeo show, or carnival midway.
The right tempo for a band, as far as FAST tempos go, is only as fast as the band in question can play the piece cleanly.... Sloppy and fast ain't that impressive.
Plus, the syncopations start to disappear from most people's earshot when the tempos get too fast. If you want fast and hysteria, that's what galops do best.
Find "Circus Time" on Decca lp on Ebay if you can. Recorded in 1952 between shows in the Masonic Hall while Ringling was playing the Garden. Merle and many of his best players are on that record - Johnny Evans and Harvey Phillips on tubas, John Horak on euphonium, Ramon Escorsia and Jimmy Isle on trumpets and Red Floyd and Bill Browning on drums. THAT's what big circus band sounded like...
Mark Heter
Mark Heter
1926 Martin Handcraft 3v upright bell front action ; 1933 Martin Handcraft 3v bellfront; King 2341 (old style); King top-action 3v; Bach (King) fiberglass sousaphone.
Uncle Markie wrote: Find "Circus Time" on Decca lp on Ebay if you can. Recorded in 1952 between shows in the Masonic Hall while Ringling was playing the Garden. Merle and many of his best players are on that record - Johnny Evans and Harvey Phillips on tubas, John Horak on euphonium, Ramon Escorsia and Jimmy Isle on trumpets and Red Floyd and Bill Browning on drums. THAT's what big circus band sounded like...
Mark Heter
Thanks for the LP tip as I was unaware of that one. Any others you can think of?
Thanks for confirming what I've always thought of the Fennel CD sounding so sterile. My band was fortunate for many years when Merle Evans would come up to be in the Great Circus Parade in Milwaukee he would also conduct our band and do a circus routine the Thursday before. We learned a lot about circus music and how to play it. He was a great guy and very funny. The crowds loved him and even his later years he was a ball of energy. It was always the week after the 4th of July and every year about this time I start to miss those concerts. Our bass drummer was an old circus guy and the concentration he had when Merle was up on the podium was intense. I think Merle valued bass drummers as much as Sousa did.
There's also a recording called "A Tribute to Merle Evans" from the late 60's or early 70's where Merle tells some stories between band selections. The band is New England Conservatory people sprinkled with All Star ringers such as Harvey Philips(Dave Gannet is the other tuba) who plays a gorgeous little faeture on one tune and John Swallw on baritone. The tempos are more the real deal because Merle was there and Harvey was on the real Ringling band in it's heyday. I don't knowthe label, my copy is an old cassette tape but I've seem it on CD for sale in the not too distant past. For whatever it's worth. Ed
EdFirth wrote:There's also a recording called "A Tribute to Merle Evans" from the late 60's or early 70's where Merle tells some stories between band selections. The band is New England Conservatory people sprinkled with All Star ringers such as Harvey Philips(Dave Gannet is the other tuba) who plays a gorgeous little faeture on one tune and John Swallw on baritone. The tempos are more the real deal because Merle was there and Harvey was on the real Ringling band in it's heyday. I don't knowthe label, my copy is an old cassette tape but I've seem it on CD for sale in the not too distant past. For whatever it's worth. Ed
Amazon shows 5 (well, maybe 4, now...) 3rd party sources. About $45.
First - Hi Ed Firth! Old circus band tuba players need to hang together!
Re: minor correction - Yes, Jewell's "The Screamer" turns up on the Fennell record - but what about his others? Jewell wrote a lot of them: Battle Royal, Gentry's Triumphal, Galop-GO!, Trombone Blues, the Old Circus Band, Circusdom and many more. English's "Royal Decree" is a tuba players' favorite; the Russ Alexander marches are great, plus King's many, many marches, rags, one-steps, etc. Try "Kentucky Sunrise" on for size some time. All missing from "Screamers" - the guy didn't know the repertoire.
If you can find it, I put out an lp on Music Heritage "Mark Heter and His Brass Band" with a 12 piece circus-type band. It has Fred Jewell's Crimson Petal" waltz on there in its entirety, plus one of the few recordings ever of "Trombone Sneeze".
BTW I guest conduct community bands these days, and I do a knockout circus band concert where we replicate some of the old act routines musically using the authentic vintage arrangements. Extremely popular as a real change of pace. I tell some stories, too to give the band a breather between tunes - they usually need one.
Email me if you're interested.
Mark Heter
Mark Heter
1926 Martin Handcraft 3v upright bell front action ; 1933 Martin Handcraft 3v bellfront; King 2341 (old style); King top-action 3v; Bach (King) fiberglass sousaphone.
EdFirth wrote:There's also a recording called "A Tribute to Merle Evans" from the late 60's or early 70's where Merle tells some stories between band selections. The band is New England Conservatory people sprinkled with All Star ringers such as Harvey Philips(Dave Gannet is the other tuba) who plays a gorgeous little faeture on one tune and John Swallw on baritone. The tempos are more the real deal because Merle was there and Harvey was on the real Ringling band in it's heyday. I don't knowthe label, my copy is an old cassette tape but I've seem it on CD for sale in the not too distant past. For whatever it's worth. Ed
Amazon shows 5 (well, maybe 4, now...) 3rd party sources. About $45.
You can buy this CD set from Walking Frog Records, new, for a much more reasonable price.
EdFirth wrote:There's also a recording called "A Tribute to Merle Evans" from the late 60's or early 70's where Merle tells some stories between band selections. The band is New England Conservatory people sprinkled with All Star ringers such as Harvey Philips(Dave Gannet is the other tuba) who plays a gorgeous little faeture on one tune and John Swallw on baritone. The tempos are more the real deal because Merle was there and Harvey was on the real Ringling band in it's heyday. I don't knowthe label, my copy is an old cassette tape but I've seem it on CD for sale in the not too distant past. For whatever it's worth. Ed
Amazon shows 5 (well, maybe 4, now...) 3rd party sources. About $45.
You can buy this CD set from Walking Frog Records, new, for a much more reasonable price.
It arrived today - 1997 CD of the 1970 recording. In pristine condition. It's playing now - worth every penny!
Harvey sounds...like Harvey.
