Screamers!

Douglas E. Wagner

Subtitle: A Medley of Circus March Themes

General Info

Year: 2013
Duration: c. 2:30
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Belwin-Mills
Cost: Score and Parts - $70.00 | Score Only - $10.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:

Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Crash Cymbals
Bells
Triangle
Whistle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The arrangement features four extremely recognizable themes by four different composers (none of them Sousa), all woven together with seamless transitions.

- Program Note from The Instrumentalist

The death-defying thrills, the unparalleled pageantry, and the seemingly endless action of a circus performance would surely fall flat, would it not be for the accompanying music that is so vital in creating that perfect balance of drama and excitement. Audiences might not readily know their names, but they can't help to break a smile whenever they hear a familiar circus march strain.

A bit higher on the difficulty scale, and usually at a tempo that is quicker than a traditional military march, the circus march is a unique American band form still very much alive today in circus arenas as well as on concert and contest stages.

Screamers (the aptly coined name for a circus march) brings together themes from four classic works of the genre (in order of appearance):

Entry of the Gladiators (Thunder and Blazes) By Julius Fucik (1872-1916)
The Circus Bee By Henry Fillmore (1881-1956)
Bombasto By Orion R. Ferrar (1866-1929)
Barnum and Bailey's Favorite By Karl L. King (1891-1971)

- Program Notes by arranger

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Branford (Conn.) Town Band - June 2014

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

You'll Be Back (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2015/2020)

All Wind Works

American Salute (as arranger)
Annabel Lee (2000)
And All the Bells on Earth Shall Ring
Appalachian Tapestry (2009)
Baba Yetu (as arranger) (2005/2015)
Beetlejuice (as arranger) (1988/2015)
Brother James' Air (as arranger) (1915/1995)
Canticle (1996)
Carols from the British Isles (as arranger) (2013)
A Celtic Christmas
Children's March (as arranger) (1919/2000)
Christmas Bells Overture (2010)
Christmas from the '50s (2009)
A Classic Christmas
Cole Porter Classics (as arranger) (2004)
Colonial Song (as arranger) (1919/2014)
The Dam Busters March (as arranger) (2004)
Doctor Who (as arranger) (1963/2015)
Down in Some Lonesome Valley (2002)
Ellan Vannin Suite
Engines of Change (2015)
Festivo (as arranger) (1968/2008
From Sea to Shining Sea (as scorer; arr. Whitney) (1882/1963/2017))
Glory! (2016)
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (as arranger) (1944/2006)
Hymn for Those Who Serve (2015)
I Got Plenty O' Nuttin' (as arranger)
I'm Seventeen Come Sunday (as arranger) (1905-12/1999)
Irish Suite: The Last Rose of Summer (as arranger) (1950/2010)
Irish Suite: The Wearing of the Green (as arranger) (1947/2009)
Japanese (as arranger) (2006)
March for a Norwegian Penguin
March On, America! (as arranger) (2014)
Morris Dance Tunes (as arranger) (1910/2010)
On a Tune of William Billings (2015)
Over the Sea to Skye (as arranger) (2014)
Promenade (as arranger) (1945/2017)
A Quiet Music (2007)
A Ralph Vaughan Williams Portrait (as arranger) (2018)
Santa in the Mix (as arranger) (2021)
Screamers! (as arranger) (2013)
Selections from Leroy Anderson's "Irish Suite" (as arranger) (2011)
Slane (as arranger) (1994)
Three Movements from "Water Music" (as arranger) (1715/2014)
To Reap the Blessings of Freedom (2002/2005)
Two Variants on Dives and Lazarus (2014)
United States Armed Forces Salute (as arranger) (2020)
U.S. Field Artillery March (as arranger)
A Vaughan Williams Christmas (as arranger) (1999)
We Will Remember Them (2021)
Welcome Christmas (as arranger) (1997/2013)
Windforce (2016)
You'll Be Back (as arranger) (2015/2020)
You'll Be Back (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2015/2020)

Resources

The Instrumentalist, Vol. 69, No. 3 (October 2014), p. 34