Part 9

Actually, horses learn to dance without music. Evans watches them go through the intricate steps taught by the trainers. Then he chooses a composition to match the rhythm of their dance, usually a waltz or a galop.

Merle Evans, the Toscanini of the Big Top, is now in his thirty-second year as leader of the Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus twenty-seven-piece Band. During this time he has not missed a single performance out of more than 14,000 engagements, and he has no assistant.

Merle began his musical career at an early age, and his cornet has been an obsession ever since. His first teachers were the local musicians in his hometown of Columbus, Kansas, where he was born fifty some years ago. At the age of ten he was playing in the town band. For the next few years he practiced six hours every day. He listened to such “greats” as Clarke, Sousa and Gilmore then tried to copy their phrasing, tones and style.

Merle says, “I came up the hard way. I was never able to study at famous conservatories or under famous teachers. But I believed that if you work hard, treat people right and keep looking up to better things all the time, your time will come.”

And Merle’s opportunity did come at the age of fifteen when he was asked to sign up with the “Mighty Brundage Shows,” a traveling carnival. His parents and sisters tearfully bade him goodby. His mother was worried about the bad company he would keep, but his letters soon assured her that in the circus there must be a strict schedule of rehearsal, right living and sound training. Merle had little leisure time as his job included playing in the band, helping to set up the props and working the carousel.

Merle next signed up with a band on a show boat on the Mississippi River. In the towns where they gave shows, the band led the parades. He not only learned much from this larger band, but he had time to practice five hours a day.

A succession of jobs followed. While working for a touring medicine show, Merle played his cornet to attract the crowd then turned to packing pills into bottles to sell to them. From this work he went to the National Stock Company which opened up in Baton Rouge. He says, “I not only led the band, but I also took the tickets and worked the pulleys for the ‘Saw Mill.’ This act was the climax of the show, a thriller act where a young girl narrowly escaped being sawed in two.”

In 1918 Merle went out with Gus Hill’s Minstrel Band of twenty-eight musicians. This was a busy life of long parades and long programs. About this time he realized that he should be looking for a better job. He had heard the great Sousa several times and he yearned to have a band like his.

Things began looking up for Merle when Ranch 101 hired him to play for its huge Wild West show whose main attraction was Buffalo Bill. Merle recalls, “Buffalo Bill used to stop to talk to me about my music and encourage me to keep on with it.” Soon at the age of nineteen Merle was asked to lead the band for the combined Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Since that time Maestro Evans has truly been the pulse of “The Greatest Show on Earth.” He and his all-brass array play more than 225 different cues during each show. The music ranges from _Big Time Boogie_ to selections by Wagner and Tchaikovsky. The typical galops and marches that they play were composed mostly by men whose ears were tuned to the sounds and atmosphere of the kingdom of spangles.

But special music has been written for the Merle Evans Band by the distinguished composers, Deems Taylor and Igor Stravinsky. The musical scores, _Circus Suite_ and _Through the Looking Glass_, Deems Taylor wrote for the 1945 plot of _Alice in Wonderland_. Stravinsky’s music was arranged for the first elephant ballet ever to be staged. Fifty elephants in fetching ballet skirts performed a dance routine whose music called for elaborate changes of rhythm.

For a number of years Evans himself composed most of the original music and made the musical arrangements for the star acts--waltzes, foxtrots, marches, galops, rhumbas, tangoes, cakewalks, or various combinations of rhythms. He did this while the circus was in winter quarters at Sarasota, Florida, where the next years’ productions are prepared. “Music has changed a lot since I joined the big show,” Merle said recently. “Now we have much of it arranged for our band. We also have production numbers--and that is special music.”

Aerialists have said that it is rhythm that makes it possible for them to accomplish the seemingly impossible in their flying trapeze acts. Sometimes Evans spends much time and effort finding the appropriate music for them. When Alberty, the “upside-down daredevil,” needed music to accompany his swaying back and forth atop a forty-five-foot pole, Evans finally chose _Pagan Love Song_, a slow waltz.

He must combine different melodies and rhythms to make the varied pattern needed for times such as the swooping of _The Famous Ringling 100 Clowns_ into the show. But the music, like a colorful backdrop, sets off these boisterous buffoons as they bustle, blunder, or rush hither and thither in baffled confusion. For the clowns’ entrance, the band plays _High Riding_ and for a clown “walk around” they play _The Anvil Chorus_.

Evans spends about eight weeks preparing the circus score, and of course that is subject to change during the thirty-two-week season. The bandsmen must be drilled on the new material and rehearsed on the routine so that they are ready when the circus opens at Madison Square Garden in New York each April.

The veteran bandmaster and his men present a splendid picture in their blue uniforms with red-striped trousers. His musicians come from various backgrounds--some even from symphony orchestras. Theirs is a difficult routine as they average seven hours of playing a day. They must be constantly alert and have the ability to adjust instantly to any possible change in rhythm.

The band has a repertoire of memorized selections to play at a moment’s notice in time of need. Sometimes death flies along with the circus actors’ thrilling performances. Gay marches are used to cover up accidents. When Sousa’s _Stars and Stripes Forever_ suddenly breaks into any other music, it means just one thing--“All Out!” The circus people call it _The Disaster March_.

Evans had to use this march in 1944 at Hartford, Connecticut, during the worst fire in circus history. He was one of the first to see the flames racing along the top and he immediately swung into the Sousa march, leading loud with his cornet. Hearing the strains roll forth like a call to arms, the bull man in the back yard shouted, “Tails!” and forty elephants hooked up trunks and tails and swung out of the lot into the street. Trainers rounded up wild animals--not one remained loose. Troupers mobilized to direct the crowd out.

Evans and his band literally split the rafters repeating the stirring march until the kettle drums caught fire. Only when the main pole began to sway did he give the order, “Jump!” and the men cleared the stand. In this heroic action Evans’s band had again proven that circus bandsmen must be alert men of iron nerves and perfect control.

Merle Evans, self-made musician, has enjoyed an illustrious career. Besides his circus work, he has directed bands in the Middle West, on the coasts and in Europe--in programs that have included Bach, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Beethoven. He has taught the art of cornet playing in universities of Texas. He has made recordings for Columbia, and an album entitled _Circus_ was cut in the late thirties.

During the winter seasons of 1921, 1922 and 1923, Evans went to London to direct the International Circus band at Olympia. Members of bands of Welsh, Scotch, Irish and the Coldstream Guards made up the group that he led. They played at St. James or at Buckingham Castle in the morning and at Olympia in the afternoon and evening. Merle said, “I believe I am the only bandleader that ever went to Europe alone.”

Recently during the winter seasons, Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus has taken its feature acts from Sarasota, Florida, to Havana, Cuba, for five weeks of performances, at the Sports Palace, there Evans, taking his double drummer and organ, used fourteen Cuban musicians for his band. He said, “I had men from the Havana Symphony and from the Police, the Navy, the Army and the Municipal Bands. They surely did a fine job, too!”

Besides playing concerts for state fairs and other Florida groups, during the winter, Merle finds time in February to play three weeks for School Assembly Service in different parts of the country. At the different high schools he rehearses the bands in playing circus music in the morning. Then that is given as an assembly program.

“I play cornet with the band,” Merle says, “I use a whistle and change the music just as we do for acts in the circus, and you would be surprised how well they can do it.” In addition, he gives a talk on his experiences in the show business.

Merle has two obsessions--his love for popcorn and his love for his cornet. He must have his daily ration of the former both summer and winter. After a hard day’s work he relaxes at home by playing cornet solos or listening to good records--with a bowl of popcorn nearby.

Super-bandmaster Merle Evans has made a lasting name for himself--not only in circus band music but in concert band music as well.

The story of the Merle Evans Circus Band is in a big way the story of all modern circus bands.

However it is far removed from those of yesterday. At the turn of the nineteenth century, the circus had one or two fiddlers to furnish the music for their shows. But more often the owners relied upon the players they could get to help out in the towns where they appeared. The owner himself furnished the music in the John Robinson Circus, which made its debut in 1854. John propped his chair against a center pole and fiddled away while the bareback riders rode their cavorting horses and the acrobats performed their dangerous stunts.

A rival circus, Quick and Mead, boasted a two-man band with a hurdy-gurdy and a bass drum. The hurdy-gurdy player was a specialist hired for that job alone. But various members of the company took turns as parade drummers, sometimes with more noise than rhythm.

Doubling as musicians was the usual thing after the circus parade became a big feature of show day. Then clowns were required to fill in as musicians, and there were some very fine “clown musicians” such as the renowned Adler. A clown band not only marched in the lineup but usually played during part of the big show program. Sometimes the ticket sellers helped out. Gradually the size of the bands increased until there were as many as thirty musicians.

Then as now everything centered around the circus band. The um-pahs blaring forth from the marchers or from the top of the big, gayly painted band wagon drawn by eight coal-black horses became an unforgettable part of the memory of children and adults.

After the parade the band played an hour’s concert under the big top. The immense drum, on wheels fully six feet high, emitted tremendous booms as it was drawn about the arena.

During the acts that followed, the bass drummer could make or break an act. Acrobats, riders, and clowns timed their tricks to the boom of the drum. Stunts such as the midget rider falling off his horse, catching it by the tail, and lifting himself into the saddle with a thump were much funnier with the drum’s booms. The clown’s awkward falls and his antics which involved noises like exploding cigars were always accented by the thud of the bass drum at the right moment. Sometimes the bandmaster in order to amuse the audience would pick up the rhythm of the movements of a latecomer who was vainly trying to locate his family. And there seemed to be a march for every occasion and situation.

Now all that is changed. Ablaze with color and pageantry as the modern circus is, its band must furnish the circus atmosphere, during the entire performance. Besides playing an half-hour concert at the beginning of the show, it binds the acts together, as well as furnish the rhythm and swing to the individual acts.

The bandsmen today must be musicians of ability and of great endurance. In parade days they often played as many as fifty marches, but now the larger circus bands play more than 200 pieces during a three-hour performance. Frequently they must change tempo and score to follow the change of routine in some animal act. If a panther decides to “slink” instead of taking a bow as he usually does at that time, the band must instantly synchronize its music to the panther’s movements. It must be ready and alert to meet any emergency. There is not a moment’s relaxation during the two shows a day.

However a circus bandsman, like other members of the Big Top family, gets one whiff of tanbark and sawdust in his nostrils and is lost to other fields of music forever.

_College and University Bands_

Almost every college has its football team and its band, and every year some of these bands put on exhibitions which rival great Broadway shows. But these organizations have come a long way since college bands began.

The first entertainments staged by the bands at football games usually consisted of formation of the initials of the opposing teams. Year by year their efforts became more ambitious and the results grew more elaborate. Today they carry out intricate designs with perfect precision while the appropriate music rolls on directed by one or more strutting drum majors whirling their gleaming batons high in the air.

Spectacular formations have included a flag with a “C” inside it, which waved as the band played “Wave the Flag for Old Chicago.” Another was a stalk of corn that “grew” on the fifty-yard line in honor of the University of Iowa. A giant clock was portrayed with a second-hand that moved around telling the time accurately. The word “Ohio” appeared changing into “Auto” with the O’s as wheels so it rolled down the field.

Other figures showed a “Gopher” for Minnesota, a “Mustang” for Southern Methodist, a “Trojan Horse” for Southern California and a “Wildcat” for Northwestern.

These shows have to be exactly timed to a split-second for there are just fifteen minutes in the period between halves. When both college bands are present, each one has only a brief 7½ minutes for its performance although there must have been hours and hours of practicing both the marching and the music.

In addition to the marching band many colleges and universities have concert bands and often well-trained orchestras. These band departments are under full-time conductors and bandmasters and the players receive full college credits.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS BAND

For many years the University of Illinois Band has been called the “largest, finest college band in the world.” 360 to 380 members are on its rolls. It consists of three organizations: the concert band and the first and second regimental bands. The highest ranking unit is the concert band of from 115 to 125 pieces. Membership in the three bands is based on the student’s proficiency.

The Illinois University Band is used by the entire University, playing for all special occasions, commencement and other events. The football marching band is made up of the concert band, the first regimental band and at times it is aided by some members of the second. Frequently the band plays over local radio stations.

The football marching band is made up of the concert band and the first regimental group, two-hundred or more bandsmen. It makes an impressive appearance in the brilliant orange and blue uniforms, every instrument held in proper position and every movement in perfect unison.

A picturesque figure precedes the great band. One of the men representing Chief Illiniwek, the symbol of the fighting Illini, dressed in the traditional Sioux Indian costume, does an Indian dance down the field in front of the band.

ALBERT AUSTIN HARDING

The Illinois University Bands, famed not only for size but also for the excellent quality of their playing, owe their reputation to Doctor Albert A. Harding, for so long a time their leader. Through many years his was the outstanding name among college band conductors in the United States.

“Austin” was born in Georgetown, Illinois, but after his mother’s death when he was a small boy, he lived with his grandparents in the little town of Paris, Illinois.

He acquired his first musical training by tooting a cheap brass cornet in a practice room which was actually an old barn. His music rack was the dashboard of an antiquated sleigh.

His grandfather, a loyal Democrat, was quite disgusted when his grandson played his horn in a Republican rally for William McKinley. “Aus,” as the boy was called, was asked to learn the fife and play in a fife and drum corps organized by the Illinois State Republican Committee. Instead the boy bought a piccolo and became such an expert player that he was appointed leader of the high school band. After his graduation young Harding became leader of a dance orchestra, playing for dances in Champaign and Urbana, Illinois; Terre Haute, Indiana and the surrounding area.

Upon entering the University of Illinois, Harding majored in Engineering and also kept on with his musical activities. He played in the University band as well as in several local organizations. In 1905, his senior year, Harding was asked to direct the University band of about fifty pieces. This position Harding held for forty-three years, building--according to John Philip Sousa--“the greatest college band in the country.”

Harding was a kindly, sympathetic man, always friendly and helpful to his students. He originated the popular Band Clinics, now grown to state, regional and national scope. Another of Dr. Harding’s creative ideas was the use of a-capella singing without instruments on the football field. The “March of the Illini” sung in this way always ended the half-time show in a football game. He also introduced the popular, marching-type glockenspiel, called the “bell-lyra,” because of its lyre-shaped frame.

From the time Harding began with the band in 1905, he trained it in accordance with his belief that a university band should reflect the quality and dignity of the university itself. He always had the theory that the band should play the same type music that is played by the orchestra. He insisted that at least a part of the program should consist of symphonic music.

Dr. Harding received many honors during his years of service in the University. His fame was widespread. In 1936 the music publishers of Great Britain paid Harding’s expenses to England and Europe to obtain his advice and counsel on music publication matters. He was treated with the honors usually accorded a visiting ruler.

In 1941 at the first University and College Band Conference, Harding was unanimously elected Honorary President for life. He was given the high military honor of a Colonel in the Illinois National Guard on the Governor’s staff. Both the Phillips University of Oklahoma and Davidson College of North Carolina awarded Harding the honorary degree of Doctor of Music. He has been guest conductor of many of the most famous bands ever assembled in the United States, and has served as adjudicator of thirty state band contests and four National meets.

Doctor Harding not only directed the vast activities of the University bands and orchestra, but during his years of service he put in countless hours of night work, transcribing, composing and arranging music for these groups. There is little music published with parts for an organization of more than 350 men. But Harding’s knowledge of the range and quality of every variety of instrument and his great talent enabled him to provide much original material for his great band.

Because of his deep admiration for Harding, John Philip Sousa bequeathed his huge band library to the University of Illinois. This band department now possesses one of the most complete musical libraries in this country.

MARK H. HINDSLEY

In 1934 Mark H. Hindsley became Assistant Director of the Illinois University Band. He has since worked constantly with Dr. Harding with the exception of the time he spent in military service during 1942-1946.

Professor Hindsley was graduated “with high distinction” from Indiana University in 1925. He was one of five men chosen as a Rhodes Fellowship contestant. He received his A.M. degree from the same university in 1927, and at that time was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa key.

His thorough musical education was continued in a number of well-known schools of music, including the University of Illinois; and the Sherwood School of Music, Chicago. Professor Hindsley was Director of Bands and Music Instructor for four years at his Alma Mater. His next position was Director of Instrumental Music at Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 1929-1934. From there he went to assist Dr. Harding, becoming Acting-Director of the University Band of Illinois in 1948. Upon Dr. Harding’s retirement in 1950, Professor Hindsley succeeded him as Head of the Band Department.

Professor Hindsley’s professional experience has been broadened by extensive summer teaching in a dozen or more of the big-name universities. He has been in great demand as a guest conductor and adjudicator of contests. As a composer and writer on musical subjects Professor Hindsley has achieved a wide reputation. He is also the recipient of many honors and honorary memberships in Musical and Educational associations.

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN BAND

Several decades ago a drum major in a Michigan University Band tossed his shining baton high over the goal post. This stunt was copied by nearly every college band in this country. A tradition exists at Ann Arbor that at each football game the drum major must thus throw his baton on high _and catch it_ if the Michigan team is to win.

The University of Michigan Band was first mentioned in the school annals of 1844. It was then an organization of nine men. From that time through three score years and ten the band led an intermittent existence. In 1895 it was recognized officially when the Board of Regents ordered the band to furnish music at football games, during Commencement week and for other social events. Three years later the Athletic Association purchased the first uniforms for the musicians.

Captain Wilfred Wilson in 1915 became a member of the faculty, to teach band instruments and conduct the band of seventy members. The next director, Mr. Larson, who served for one year, was followed by Nicholas Falcone. His work was very successful through a long period.

William D. Revelli succeeded Falcone in 1935 and under his skillful leadership the University of Michigan Band has become outstanding among all University bands of the country. “A model band” it is called by one of the most prominent conductors in the United States.

This organization is composed of three units: the Wolverine Marching Band, Varsity Band and the Concert Band. There is a combined membership of more than 250.

The Marching Band admits no women players. The other two units accept both men and women, but only those who are extremely competent can become members of any division of this university band. In addition, each member must meet all scholastic requirements and pass the physical examination. The Varsity Band is, of course, a feeder for the Concert and Marching Bands. The Wolverine Marching Band has established a wide reputation for perfect precision in marching and in making intricate formations on the football field.