Man On The Flying Trapeze

For full orchestra, "Man on the Flying Trapeze" is an arrangement of the traditional song, commissioned and performed by the Reno POPs Orchestra in Nevada. This score is a certain "crowd-pleaser," playable by a good high school, college, community or professional orchestra. (5 1/2/ minutes) A popular standard in circuses featuring trapeze artists, the two-movement format is a "Gallop" for entry of the aerilaists - as they make their way up rope ladders to the top of the tent rigging, and the "Waltz" following as the flyers perform their various swings, flights, loops, and catches in the air. In addition to the main melody presented in a 2/4 time "Gallop," the music features quotes of well-known tunes played by circus bands, for example, the Brahm's "Hungarian Dance No. 5," the Scottish jig "Charlie Is My Darling;" and other brief "heroic" passages from cinema. Off and on for years, Dr. Buchanan played lead trumpet with several circus bands - Ringling Brothers, Clyde Beatty, etc In this arrangement he has captured the true feeling of the arrival and presentation of the trapeze act. Included are chromatic runs, drum rolls, cymbal crashes, bells and calliope timbres in the "Waltz," indicative of the release, flying, and capturing of the aerialists on the high trapeze."