Circus Songs

Circus Songs: An Annotated Anthology provides musicians and librarians with the musical scores of 85 circus songs along with historical annotations. Informative and entertaining, this collection explores the history of American circus music and provides some background on circus musicians that will delight and enchant even the most avid music buff. Circus Songs will help you appreciate the role of circus music in American culture and will preserve these songs for future generations to enjoy.Through Circus Songs, you will discover well-known circus favorites as well as obscure tunes, including:

• “Battle of the Winds,” written by Edward Duble, which was published in 1917 while the author was performing for the John Robinson Circus
• “Belford’s” Carnival, composed by Russell Alexander, a march played outside the sideshow tents to advertise the marvelous spectacles that could be seen by paying an additional admission
• “Bravura,” one of the most recognizable and most frequently played circus marches, frequently used for wild animal acts or attractions with a foreign flavor, due to its exotic sound
• “Buffalo Bill’s Equestrian March,” composed by William Paris, written in honor of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
• “Con Celerita,” a Spanish term meaning “with a little velocity,” a fast tempo gallop composed by J. J. Richards
• “Kentucky Sunrise,” a two-step that is often used as part of the circus finale, was created by Karl L. King
• “Olympia Hippodrome,” written by Russell Alexander during his employment with Barnum & Bailey, was usually played during daring feats of horsemanshipCircus Songs is chock full of entertaining essays to inform and intrigue you about an era that shaped our culture and entertained us at circuses all over America. This unique book will surprise and satisfy even the most zealous music historian with facts and information on the songs that reflected America’s spirit and captured a nation’s attention.
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