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A screamer is a circus march intended to stir up the audience during the show.
History
[edit]Screamers were mostly composed in a 60-year period (1895–1955). Circuses were in need of music that would stir the audience into a frenzy, as four-footed animals galloped across the ring. Ringmasters sought screamers because march music was a prominent part of American music at that time, and their quick tempo was what their inciting role demanded.
Musicality
[edit]Circus marches are faster than a normal military march, often 130 to 150 beats/minute. Although screamers tend to follow the march form, they are often abbreviated, and additions, such as a quick cornet call introduction to a new melody, are included. A typical screamer lasts a minute to three and a half minutes.
Screamers are a very demanding type of music, due to their extremely fast and advanced rhythms, especially the low-brass parts. Double and even triple tonguing is often required in order to play these rhythms. The trio in "The Melody Shop" is a good example of this.[2] Many screamers have two prominent melodies playing at once. Although this is not unusual in a march, screamers tend to go further with this. The low-brass section can be playing a long, stately melody, while the woodwinds can be moving along with a phrase of 16th notes, or vice versa. Due to the circumstances in which screamers are played, dynamics tend to stay at a level forte. Unlike some military marches, piano is rarely used.
Composers
[edit]Composers of screamers included Karl L. King, whose work included "Barnum & Bailey's Favorite", Fred Jewell and Henry Fillmore. John Philip Sousa wrote "On Parade" and a few others, but his writing in the circus march style is not highly regarded.[3]
Examples
[edit]- The ABA March by Edwin Franko Goldman
- Americans We by Henry Fillmore
- Barnum and Bailey's Favorite by Karl L. King
- Bennett's Triumphal by Melvin H. Ribble
- The Big Cage by Karl L. King
- The Billboard March by John N. Klohr
- Bombasto by Orion R. Farrar
- Bones Trombone by Henry Fillmore
- Bravura by Charles E. Duble
- Bugles and Drums by Edwin Franko Goldman
- The Circus Bee by Henry Fillmore
- Circus Days by Karl L. King
- Circus Echoes by Arthur W. Hughes
- Circus King by Charles E. Duble
- Coat of Arms by George Kenny
- Floto's Triumph by Fred Jewell
- His Honor by Henry Fillmore
- Invictus by Karl L. King
- In Storm and Sunshine by John Clifford Heed
- Klaxon by Henry Fillmore
- The Melody Shop by Karl L. King
- Onward and Upward by Edwin Franko Goldman
- Robinson's Grand Entree by Karl L. King
- Rolling Thunder by Henry Fillmore
- Sells-Floto Triumphal by Karl L. King
- The Squealer by Will Huff
- The Screamer by Frederick Jewell
- Smilin' Jack by Robert S. Keller
- Them Basses by Getty H. Huffine
- Whip and Spur by Thomas S. Allen
Standard tempo marches frequently performed as screamers
[edit]- Entrance of the Gladiators (also known as Thunder and Blazes when played as a screamer) by Julius Fučík
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ Liner notes to Front & Center, a Collection of American Marches, U.S. Air Force Band
- ↑ The Melody Shop- United States Naval Academy Band, retrieved 2023-09-07
- ↑ "John Philip Sousa and the Culture of Reassurance". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
References
[edit]- Fennell, Dr. Frederick: Screamers (Circus Marches), Eastman Wind Ensemble.
- Whitmarsch, Richard: Sounds of the Circus (28 volumes of circus music)