THE CIRCUS BAND
BY BANDMASTER WILLIAM MERRICK
Few people who watch the circus parade as it comes down the street
and who, almost invariably, cry, “Strike up the band!” “Why don’t you
play!” “Let her go!” etc., have ever given a thought to the amount of
work that falls to the circus musician, and the experience, care and
patience it requires to organize and successfully conduct this nowadays
necessary adjunct to the big tent enterprises. The earlier circus bands
were far from being the complete affairs of to-day, and perhaps nothing
gives a more striking example of the growth in civilization and culture
of our country than the evolution of the circus band.
The bands carried by the first circuses and menageries were necessarily
limited in size and not always composed of the best talent. Travelling
as they did by wagon, and being forced by lack of transportation
facilities to curtail the number of their people, and the accommodation
of the performers coming in for first consideration, the band was
looked upon in those days much in the light of a disagreeable
necessity. Often the engaging of the music was left to the last moment,
and frequently the earlier shows were content with picking up a roving
gypsy band, similar to the ones we now see playing for pennies, under
the windows of the residential quarters of our large cities.
As might have been expected, the first really military bands that were
introduced into the circus business were of European origin, but even
they were not so complete in numbers and so especially adapted in
character to the purpose as the present circus military band. Still
among them were occasionally musicians of exceptional ability, and many
of the better soloists of our metropolitan bands and orchestras were at
one period of their career members of a travelling circus band. But it
is not the intention of this article to attempt a history of all the
musical notables connected with the circus, but rather to contrast the
circus band of to-day with that of the past.
Let us take a glance at the repertoire of the old time circus band.
The overtures and grand entree were played by brass instruments alone,
the usual instrumentation being three cornets (generally two E and
one B), two E horns, one B tenor, baritone and bass, the drums being
played by such performers as could (to use a slang expression) “fake”
a little. Two to four overtures, and perhaps one or two selections or
pot-pourris, composed their entire libraries in this respect. The
incidental music for the various acts was almost invariably played with
string instruments, the orchestra being composed of two violins (first
and second), flute or piccolo, clarionet, two cornets, trombone, and
bass.
I recall an amusing incident connected with the piccolo player of one
of these travelling orchestras. The leader, a very good violinist by
the way, had occasion to correct the piccolo player, and asked in a
very pompous manner, “Bill, why don’t you play that last strain an
octave higher?” To which Bill nonchalantly replied, “Professor, I am
now playing higher than my salary goes.” As the company was not noted
for its liberality in the way of salaries, the retort was highly
relished by the balance of the orchestra.
The numbers that could be produced by a small number of instruments
were exceedingly few, so the libraries of the travelling leaders were
of a consequence limited.
Now all this is changed. The extreme competition between the music
publishers of to-day and the practicability of our experienced modern
managers, render it possible for a leader who is at all enterprising
to obtain not only all the standard and classical overtures and
selections, but an almost endless programme of popular music for the
promenade concert that now precedes the performance with every large or
well regulated circus.
But to be thoroughly efficient and “up-to-date,” the latter-day circus
leader must not rest content with a pleasing or popular concert
programme. There is the performance or incidental music to be looked
after, and for this purpose the leader, to suit the varying tastes of
the performers and public, must frequently draw on his own powers of
composition. Every act, or series of acts, requires music exactly in
keeping with its character. Nor will it do to keep one programme on too
long; the performer grows tired of it, the musicians become careless,
and the music itself (so fast is the age in which we live) becomes
mildewed, and out of date.
By this it will be seen that the circus leader’s life, if he keep
abreast of the times, is a very busy one, nor is the improvement
confined solely to the augmentation of the musical library. The
band, instead of being confined to the poorly balanced and limited
instrumentation that we have just mentioned, is composed of sufficient
reed to soften the natural harshness of the brass instruments, and the
individual performers are selected from the youngest and best talent
our country affords. I say “youngest,” for the rising generation
having had the advantage of the experience and teaching of their
predecessors in the “art divine,” possess in a marked degree that
mobility of temperament, accuracy of attack, and facility of execution,
so necessary in rendering properly the circus music of the present
day. Then they must begin young in the circus business to acquire the
proper embouchure for playing almost an unlimited amount double forte,
over rough streets, and still be able to render pianissimo in the
concert programme following the parade.
No amount of practice in the conservatory or concert room can obtain
this embouchure. It must be acquired by actual experience, on the
circus band wagon. A band composed of the better class of musicians
that have “come up” in the circus business will render almost
double the volume of tone of the same number taken from the theatre
orchestra or concert stage, and if they have been properly handled by
a painstaking and efficient leader, the quality will be also be found
superior.
The life of the circus musician, filled as it is with plenty of hard
work, is not without its sunny side. The constant change of scene
incident to travel alone is a great factor in dispelling weariness. The
open air life renders it the most healthful of occupations, while the
antics of the rustic who comes into town to see the parade and hear the
band, are an endless source of amusement. The music for the parade,
played as it is in a very lively tempo, causes all manner of grotesque
movements among the listeners on the streets. This is particularly
noticeable on the southern tours. It is no uncommon thing for a number
of “darkies” to start at the circus grounds and dance through the
entire route of the parade; and when in doubling back on the main
street, which is often necessary in the smaller towns, the band passes
the steam calliope, which brings up the rear, the din caused by the
mingling of the band-music with the shrill whistle of this instrument,
seems to throw them into a veritable frenzy. During one of these
parades the following colloquy was overheard between two of these
over-excited “darkies”:
“Jim,” yelled a particularly dusky individual, “look at dat man up
yonda with dat slip ho’n!”
“Deuce wid de slip ho’n,” replied Jim, “look at dat steam fiddle!”
I remember an astonishing but blessed effect the music of our circus
band had on a woman in Grand Island, Nebraska, in 1882. She had been
blind for years and was sitting dejectedly at a window as we approached
in parade. When opposite her, we burst suddenly into brazen harmony,
and the woman gave a scream of great joy. The shock of the music had
caused her to regain her eyesight.