Screamer (march)

A screamer is a circus march intended to stir up the audience during the show.

History
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. Because march music was a prominent part of American music at that time, and because it carried such a quick tempo, it was this that ringmasters demanded.

Musicality
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. 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
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.

Examples

 * 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
 * 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

Marches composed for standard march tempo but frequently performed as screamers

 * Entrance of the Gladiators (also known as Thunder and Blazes when played as a screamer) by Julius Fučík