Chapter IV: Part 4

While the circus was at Madison Garden in New York City, Lillian Leitzel, the great woman aerialist, asked him to write some special music for her act as she had never liked her music. King, inspired by her beauty and grace, wrote a special waltz for her act. The melody and rhythm gave her wings she insisted, and for the rest of her life she refused to have any change made in her musical accompaniment.

“In 1918,” said King, “I thought I should settle down and devote more time to my composing.” So he left the circus life and returned to Canton, Ohio, where he became the conductor of the famous Grand Army Band.

Two years later Karl King went to Fort Dodge, Iowa, to lead their municipal band, “the premier concert band of Iowa.” He established there the Karl King Publishing Company which he still owns and manages.

In spite of his colorful career, Karl King, a handsome, six-foot-four-inch giant with piercing dark eyes, is noted for his modesty and unassuming manners.

But he has reason to boast about many things. He has numerous devoted friends in the musical world who realize what he has done. He is past president of the American Bandmasters’ Association and of the Iowa Bandmasters’ Association. For years this militant and enthusiastic champion of bands and band music has been a guest conductor of massed band festivals in nearly every state in the Union.

Karl King has written more than 200 compositions, some of which most people have heard in various places or over the radio. Among the college marches he wrote are: _Hawkeye Glory_ for the University of Iowa; _Mighty Minnesota_ for the University of Minnesota; _The War March of the Tartars_ for Wayne University; and _Pride of the Illini_ for the University of Illinois; and _Michigan on Parade_ for University of Michigan. _Ponderoso_, _Barnum and Bailey Favorite March_ and _Moonlight on the Nile_ waltz are also favorites.

Maestro King is married and has one son, Karl Jr. Their home and business is in Fort Dodge, Iowa, and he is proud to direct the hometown band. Fort Dodge is proud of Karl King who, since 1920, has advertised their town the country over with one of the few big bands that has had a continuous existence of many years.

THE BAND OF HAGERSTOWN

The municipal band of Hagerstown, Maryland, organized in 1915 has the city government solidly back of its well-known band and its noted leader, Dr. Peter Buys. Their summer concerts in the city park draw huge audiences and they are in demand for out-of-town engagements. Dr. Buys, composer, conductor, and teacher, came to America from Amsterdam, Holland, in 1902. For nine years he arranged music for Sousa’s Band. Since 1920 he has been the Director of Music of Hagerstown. He has worked continuously with the pioneers in the band field and takes an active part in school band festivals and clinics over the country.

Dr. Peter Buys and Karl King have done a great service to our country by proving that a municipal band of high artistic merit can make a continued contribution to the cultural and entertainment life of their communities.

PHILADELPHIA’S MUMMERS’ PARADE

Everyone loves a parade, particularly if it has a band in it. For the better part of a century municipal festival parades have been a tradition in some of the large cities of our country from New York to California.

But one of the most fantastic is the Mummers’ Parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on New Years Day. It is said to have originated in the early 1800’s, when it was led by Eph Horn, the famous minstrel. However, the only records available tell of the first, an individual organization with three musicians--two fiddlers and one artist on the triangle. The first formal parade was held January 1, 1901, after the Council had decided to make it a city function.

Now the colorful parade is miles long and is made up of three units--fancy, comic and string bands. King Momus, god of ridicule, is the leader of the parade. The Police, Firemen and PTC Bands at the beginning of the line start the procession rolling. But the swinging groups all march down Broad Street to the tinkling music of the string bands.

Some years there are as many as fifty string bands, spaced a block apart. In them from fifty to one hundred musicians play guitars, banjos, violins, saxophones, accordions, percussion instruments, and cymbals. Their theme song, _Oh Dem Golden Slippers_, is in keeping with the gold painted rubbers which the gay marchers always wear.

Their fancy costumes “as splendiferous as a parade of peacocks” cost thousands of dollars. In most clubs or units, the captain wears the showiest costume with a flowing satin or velvet cape a block long and requiring sixty or more page boys to support it. One headdress contained 300 plumes while another stood ten feet high and had 700 plumes with lights blinking on and off among them.

Philadelphia and the surrounding country is proud of its parades, and in fair weather more than a million people jam both sides of Broad Street to see Quakertown’s traditional pilgrimage.

_Industrial Bands_

“Wanted! FIRST-CLASS BANDSMAN who has $500 or more to invest in an up-to-date job printing office; the business will invoice at $1,600. Party must be reliable and a first-class printer. Good opportunity for the right party.”

Advertisements like this were common in the early band days. Employers wanted workers who could also play a band instrument or “double in brass.” And such was the popularity of bands that often the job appealed to the worker only because he would be able to play in the town band. At first the bandsmen were not paid, even for their expenses; but later some communities donated money to help them.

In time the industries began to support their bands for they had found these organizations wonderful allies in spreading good will among their employees, communities and customers. Some companies gave band concert parties to their workers and their families. These were welcome events in the days of few social entertainments.

One of the oldest industrial bands, the Altoona Works Band of the Pennsylvania Railroad, was organized in 1853 under the leadership of William Boyden. This group was always noted for its striking appearance. In 1885 twenty-six uniforms were purchased at a cost of $2,200, “the trimmings and buttons of which were gold-plated of the best quality.” The band played at the inauguration of President Harrison and at several of the inaugural celebrations and is still in existence with Albert Sincer of Altoona, Pennsylvania, as leader.

Outstanding among the smaller railroad bands was the Missouri-Kansas and Texas or “Katy” Band of Parsons, Kansas. The company employed a full-time music supervisor and in the 1920’s boasted five bands of white workers, one Mexican band and one Negro band. These popular groups played over the country at such functions as state fairs and in many places where a parade band was needed.

A great impetus had been given to the band movement when Charles G. Conn of Elkhart, Indiana, began turning out popular-priced horns. And incidentally, the band instrument industry began quite by accident. When Charles who had received a lip injury during the Civil War came home, he made an elastic rim on the metal mouthpiece of his own trumpet to protect his lip. Then his friends wanted the rims on theirs, and soon there was so much demand for them that he started making them, using a small shed for a factory. He went on to make the mouthpiece and finally the instrument itself. Thus began the great C. G. Conn Ltd., business of today.

Soon other companies were organized and followed suit in a rush to make instruments; organize bands and help the musicians to buy the instruments. The movement spread and in 1898 it is said that there were 1,000 industrial bands marching in the streets of the United States and playing popular music of the Spanish-American War days.

Workers of all nationalities and occasionally executives of the companies played in these business organizations over the country. One millionaire industrialist, Felix Dupont, played baritone with the Wilmington, Delaware Police Band. Fifty-five musicians, employed in various departments of the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, formed a typically American group. They represented eight nationalities--four English, ten Italians, fifteen Germans, ten Canadians, one French, one Scotch, two Polish and twelve Americans.

In 1914 the Willy-Overland Automobile Company of Toledo, Ohio, organized a similar fifty-piece band from various departments. Its personnel of molders, machinists, blacksmiths, coremakers, office workers, auto testers and common laborers all played the works of the old masters under the leadership of Gustav Koehler.

John Wanamaker Company in New York City had a famous band with fine leaders which it maintained in connection with the school work of its junior employees until the New York Educational Law made it necessary to discontinue.

The American Rolling Mill Company (Armco) Band of Middletown, Ohio, was organized in 1921 by Frank Simon. For years it was a well-known company and community band, touring Ohio and adjacent states. Then the company sponsored Frank Simon and His Famous Band on the Armco NBC program for ten years. This band is no longer in existence as the American Rolling Mill Company changed its advertising policy at the close of the ten years, and dropped the band.

During depression years most of the industrial bands disappeared; but some companies, still feeling that they are a valuable asset, have organized new ones. The Caterpillar Tractor Company at Peoria, Illinois, is one of the several firms that keep up a concert band and a dance band for plant members and their families.

FRANK SIMON

Like many men who have achieved success Frank Simon, celebrated bandmaster and cornet soloist, had to help support himself as a boy. “I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth,” he says, “but I came up the hard way, for which I have always been thankful.”

Frank’s parents, Sol and Bertha Simon, who operated a small dry goods store in Middletown, Ohio, recognized their son’s talent in his early years.

In 1899 the ten-year-old boy began studying with the local bandmaster, Q. C. Buckles, who soon advised Mr. Simon to send his son to nearby Cincinnati for lessons. Frank studied there with W. J. Koop, then, first trumpet with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Soon he attracted the attention of Herman Bellstedt, eminent cornet master and military band expert, who gave him lessons and great encouragement.

In his early teens Frank was doing the work of a man. He played in the local Middletown Theater for road shows and also led a dance band. At sixteen he directed the hometown band until he was hired by John C. Weber of Cincinnati as the cornet soloist of his Prize Band of America. Through the next few years young Simon toured the country with it and other professional groups.

Soon the music world was talking about Frank Simon’s skillful cornet playing. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra offered him a job in their orchestra, a position he held for three years.

In 1914 Sousa asked him to be his cornet soloist and the assistant to Herbert L. Clarke. Upon Clarke’s retirement from the band five years later, Frank Simon succeeded him as premier soloist and assistant leader.

But after two more years with Sousa, Simon wanted to create a great band of his own. In 1920 he accepted an offer from the American Rolling Mill Company to organize and conduct an industrial band for them. Made up of fine musicians, this well-known organization successfully advertised its sponsor at many important events in our country and in Canada.

In 1930 when radio came into its own, Frank Simon reorganized his band as a purely professional group. He engaged fifty talented Cincinnati musicians for his great symphonic band which made an outstanding record of broadcasting for ten years under one sponsor, The American Rolling Mill Company. Simon endeared himself to young people by presenting on each weekly broadcast some soloist or ensemble, selected from one of our American school bands. This program became one of the most popular on the air.

During this time Simon saw the need of keeping step with the times and asked Ferde Grofe, eminent modern composer, to write some new compositions for his band. A modern strain was added to his concert band programs in the playing of numbers from Grofe’s _Grand Canyon_ and other suites, but they did not replace the finest of classical music in these broadcasts.

Among the honors and distinctions awarded Frank Simon is a Doctor of Music degree conferred upon him by Capital College, Columbus, Ohio, “in recognition of his efforts in the advancement of bands in the United States.”

In 1932 Dr. Simon was appointed Director of the Band Department of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He at once established a band department in the Cincinnati Conservatory which has attracted thousands of young talented players to the school. Since the Armco Band left the air, Dr. Simon has taken on other duties besides his responsibilities at the Conservatory. He has been in popular demand as guest conductor, judge and lecturer at band festivals and school band clinics in all parts of the country.

But this has not interfered with his leadership of the artistic concert band of about 150 musicians at the Conservatory. He gives several concerts a year, featuring their outstanding vocalists and instrumentalists and playing the best in band literature. His 65-piece radio symphonic band has given local and national broadcasts.

Dr. and Mrs. Simon have two sons, David and Joseph. The older is a doctor connected with the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, and Joseph is with a radio station in Mason City, Iowa.

Dr. Simon has two hobbies, fishing and baseball. But his major hobby might be said to be young people, for his devotion to young musicians of the nation is widely recognized.

“Hundreds of my students are now engaged professionally in symphony orchestras, radio and recording and in our educational institutions throughout the land,” said Dr. Simon. “This, of course, is a source of great pride to me.”

_The Salvation Army Band_

In Three Colts Lane in an old wool-shed
Glory, Hallelujah!
We frighten the living and raise the dead,
Sing Glory, Hallelujah,
Shout Glory, Hallelujah!
And while the rats were running round,
The boys and girls Salvation found.

William Booth began the work of his Christian Mission in the poorest slums of London in 1865. He had determined to preach the Gospel to the masses of people who were not members of any church. The beginning was hard. Rough crowds gathered along the streets, shouting, yelling, pelting Booth and his followers with stones, mud or old vegetables. Many times the ‘Salvationists’ were forced to don clean uniforms before taking their places in their meeting.

But Booth and his workers were brave and persistent. They soon realized that singing, even when occasionally aided by a cornet, tambourine or drums, was not suitable music to lead their crusade. In England in that period, brass bands were at the peak of their popularity. Fortunately, just at that time--1878--the Fry family, a group of successful instrumentalists were converted to Booth’s cause. They offered the services of their brass quartette, and soon a brass band became a necessary part of the Salvation Army.

It was a wise choice. Trumpet tones and drum beats could silence an unruly mob, and also carry the hymn tunes far and wide over the crowd. Not only could a band play effectively in the open air, but the players were able to carry the instruments and march as they produced the music.

The Christian Mission was reorganized in a military fashion. The name was changed to the Salvation Army with General Booth at the head. The Salvation Army brass bands began to multiply rapidly.

In 1880 George Scott Railton, an officer in General Booth’s Salvation Army, arrived in New York from London. With him came seven fine, wholesome-looking young women to aid in bringing Christianity to the poor, down-and-out slum dwellers in America’s greatest city.

This small group of Salvationists was well aware of the valuable help given by band instruments in their work. But on this first appearance in the Bowery they had to depend on their voices alone. The little company had sailed across the Atlantic in the steerage where there was no room for their trumpets, drums and other instruments. Bravely they marched along the street singing hymns set to the tunes of the popular songs of those days.

The words of _All Around the World the Salvation Army Rolls_ were sung to the tune of _Old Black Joe_. _What a Friend We Have in Jesus_ was fitted to the tender melody of _In the Gloaming_. These and many other touching songs brought numerous converts from among the listeners.

Before many months had passed Commissioner Railton found a number of instrumental players among his members. Instruments were collected, a brass band was assembled to inspire the people and “banding”--the Salvation Army’s word for it--began in America. Songs had a great influence in this religious campaign, especially when accompanied by a good brass band. The rhythmic, catchy tunes were carried to the watching crowd and many an unsavory barrage of stale eggs or tomatoes was stopped by the strains of the music.

As a “militant religious” order, the Salvation Army naturally follows the military-like rules and regulations issued by the International Headquarters in London. These rules apply to bands as all band members are required to belong to the Salvation Army. They must obey all regulations pertaining to their habits, their personal living, religious beliefs, wearing of the uniforms and their support of the organization.

The Salvation Army Band’s top man is the bandmaster who is responsible for all the music produced by the organization. He chooses the band members after each one has been carefully investigated by the Salvation Army authorities. The bandmaster also trains his group, and conducts the rehearsals and concerts.

The bandleader, or band Sergeant, conducts the religious services for the band members only. He is responsible for their spiritual welfare. It is he who gives the bandsmen advice, counsel and discipline. According to an unwritten law, each bandsman--unless previously released by an acceptable excuse--attends every rehearsal and engagement throughout the entire year.

The officers of the Salvation Army are chosen from the soldiers in the ranks, who have had a high school education. They receive nine months’ training in one of the four Salvation Army Schools. This is a varied course which even includes instruction in how to choose a wife or a husband. No officers are permitted to marry anyone not in the Salvation Army, nor without the consent of their superior officers. Army wives always hold the same rank as their husbands.

Cadets, in addition to their other courses, learn to play several musical instruments, including the accordion, euphonium, trumpets and trombones. They are graduated as a probationary Lieutenant. After one year of correspondence study--still on strict probation--they are given the commission of 2nd Lieutenant and the standing of ordained ministers of the Gospel. Their training continues through various ranks: 1st Lieutenant, Captain, Major, in staff as Brigadier, Lieutenant Colonel, Colonel, Lieutenant Commissioner to Commissioner.

The Salvation Army bands are in three different grades. The top-ranking ones are the various Headquarters Staff Bands, all well-trained, expert musicians. The Corps bands come second--there are many of them--more bands of this class than in any other musical organization in the world except school bands. One night each week band rehearsal is held in each Corps hall and all the youngsters in the neighborhood gather there, welcome to listen and learn. Many Corps bands hold a summer camp, two weeks or more, for young musicians who are anxious to play in a band.

The third band group is selected from the young people of the Salvation Army with fully 18,000 members. These youth organizations are feeders for the Corps bands. Many young musicians have been helped by this organization. When a boy, Harry James--the famous trumpeter--played in a Salvation Army band in Texas. George Paxton also took his early instruction on the cornet in a Salvation Army boy’s band in Newark, New Jersey.

No members of a Salvation Army receives any salary for his services. James Petrillo once asked a bandsman in a street corner Salvation Army band “What union do you belong to?” “The Union of God,” the player answered. Petrillo made no reply but threw a coin on the drum as he passed on.

The Salvation Army in the United States is divided into four territories and each has a music secretary who directs all the musical activities in his section. At present, these officers and their territories are as follows:

Brigadier William Broughton--West --San Francisco
Major Frank Longino --South --Atlanta
Captain Richard E. Holz --East --New York
Lieutenant Bernard Smith --Central--Chicago

There are approximately 700 large, all-brass Salvation Army bands in this country. These are among the most outstanding:

Flint Citadel (Michigan)
Oakland Citadel (California)
Boston Palace (Massachusetts)
Detroit Citadel (Michigan)
Lehigh Citadel (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Brooklyn Citadel (New York)
Los Angeles Congress Hall (California)
Syracuse Citadel (New York)
Atlanta Temple (Georgia)
New York Temple (New York)
San Francisco Citadel (California)

The International Staff Band at the Headquarters in London is perhaps the most widely-known of these Salvation Army bands. Many prominent official positions and men of noted various professions may be found playing beside a music-loving laborer or some one in a lowly walk of life.

The New York City Staff Band of thirty men was organized in 1887 and has played continuously ever since. This is the most famous Salvation Army band in the United States. Brigadier William E. Bearchell, the bandmaster, is an outstanding musician, versatile and talented. He is a composer, a chorus conductor, organist and former bandmaster of the Brooklyn Citadel Corps Band, which was then known as one of the finest Salvation Army bands in America.

The New York City Staff Band is remarkable for its distinctive tone color. This is due to the use of several unusual instruments: the flugel-horn, the E-flat cornet and the G-trombone. The handle of this trombone slides the slide down farther than other trombones and makes the tone much deeper.

This famous band has given many concerts throughout Canada, toured England where they played at Buckingham Palace, Crystal Palace and various famous places in London. They have played at the White House for every President since Theodore Roosevelt first invited them. They have been heard in New York at the Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, at the World’s Fair, and in great halls, universities and cathedrals in all parts of the United States.

The Chicago Staff Band of the Central Territory Headquarters is another nationally-famous band. This organization is highly rated by music circles in the United States. With their outstanding bandmaster, Captain Carl Lindstrom, these thirty bandsmen were recently guests of the Texas Music Educators’ Convention.

In 1883 a music publishing department was established in London. There all vocal and instrumental music was carefully edited and published. This was in accordance with the rule that all music used in the Salvation Army must be composed or arranged by its members and published by the organization. This regulation is to insure the use of music that is absolutely suitable for the service in order to obtain the proper atmosphere and results. Good, appropriate music is essential. The Salvation Army music is not intended for the use of the public but for the Army alone.

The music material is thoroughly screened. Each number is played by the Headquarters Staff Band for the Music Editorial Board, which carefully judges its fitness and desirability.

Today in the United States the Salvation Army music is published in San Francisco, Chicago and New York under the same rules and restrictions as were originally observed in London. The instruments used by the Salvation Army bands all over the world, are made in the Army’s instrument factories at St. Albans, England. As with the Army music, these instruments are sold only to Salvationists.

No longer can the music of the Salvation Army be classed as cheap or inferior. For more than fifty years, high-ranking musicians, composers, and outstanding performers on various musical instruments have successfully done their part to build and keep the music and the bands of the Salvation Army to a high standard of content and performance.

While contributions to Salvation Army Music are made by musicians from all parts of the globe, three of the most prominent composers are Americans. They are Erik Leidzen, considered by many as the foremost arranger for bands in the world today; Emil Soderstrom, staff arranger for NBC in Chicago; and Brigadier William Broughton, who has written more music for the use of the Salvation Army than any other American composer.

That the Salvation Army bands have achieved a high rating is proven by the interest shown in them by Sousa in his time and by today’s noted bandleader, Dr. Edwin Franko Goldman. And also by Albert Spalding, Marian Anderson and other “greats” in the music world who have appeared on the Salvation Army Band programs.

The Salvation Army bands proclaim salvation through their music. It sustains the religious feelings, spirit, and fervor of the converts. Salvationists regard their music as the greatest part of their religious service. Some officers say it is fully sixty per cent more effective than their preaching.

That the Salvation Army follows the ideas of the ancient Greek philosophers is true: “the first duty of music is to ennoble the soul.” Perhaps the musicians of the Salvation Army have come closer to the real use and meaning of music. They know its power to rescue hardened souls from sin, to inspire the disheartened with courage, to do right and to instill new joy into saddened lives.

CAPTAIN RICHARD E. HOLZ

“Captain Holz? I’m sorry sir, he just left with the band. They’re giving a half-hour concert on the steps of the Sub-Treasury building down in Wall Street. Helen Jepson of the Metropolitan Opera is going to sing with them today. You might call the Captain here in about three-quarters of an hour.” And the man at the information desk in the large lobby of the headquarters of the New York Salvation Army, smilingly turned to the next in the waiting line.

Even as the telephone conversation began the tall, young Captain had been climbing into a crowded auto that had been waiting at the curb in front of the huge Centennial Memorial Temple.

Captain Holz is indeed a busy man. As the Territorial Music Secretary, of the Eastern division of the Salvation Army, he is directly responsible for all the music activities in eleven eastern states. This means that Captain Holz supervises 266 Salvation Army bands as well as small instrumental groups and vocal choruses and glee clubs. He also directs the New York Temple chorus of more than 100 voices. In addition, the Captain is Deputy Bandmaster of the famous New York Headquarters Staff Band, conductor of its fine male chorus and also of the Brass Octette.

Captain Holz is thoroughly accustomed to the life of a soldier in this “militant religious” order. He is a fourth generation Salvationist, born in the Salvation Army, when his father Brigadier Ernest Holz was in charge of the Salvation Army Corps in Pittston, Pennsylvania.

A move to the Southwest sent Richard to high school in Oklahoma City. There, following his bent, at the age of sixteen, he was conductor of the Salvation Army band. He attended the University of Oklahoma, majoring in music education. Young Mr. Holz came to New York in 1935, worked in the Public Relations Department at the Territorial Headquarters and at the same time continued his college studies at the New York University. In 1937, he entered the Salvation Army Training College in New York, received his Commission and was appointed a Corps officer in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

Captain Richard Holz and Lieutenant Ruby Walker were married at the Centennial Memorial Temple in New York on January 7, 1941. Commissioner Richard E. Holz, the grandfather of the groom performed the marriage ceremony, and the Headquarters Staff Band provided the music for the happy occasion. The young couple made their home in Elizabeth until Captain Holz was appointed in the United States First Air Force in April 1943.

Even during the War, music continued to be one of the Captain’s chief interests when his Salvation Army trumpet “Shorty” sounded church calls and accompanied the singing. At Laurinburg--Maxton Army Air Base--he received glider training with the Airborne Troops in the Troop Carrier Command. And as chaplain of the 872nd and 882nd Airborne Engineers, he served in New Guinea, Leyte and Okinawa. Captain Holz was with the first group of Americans to enter Japan when, on September 1st, 1945, he and his jeep “Sweet Chariot” were flown to Tokio.

It was upon his return from service in the United States Army that Captain Holz was appointed Territorial Music Secretary of the Eastern Section of the Salvation Army. He has written a number of musical compositions. His works, as well as that of other outstanding musicians, have noticeably improved the quality of the music of the Salvation Army.

Captain Holz believes that many of the new attractive ideas found in modern dance music “can be used just as easily in the service of the Lord as in bebop.” Many of the well-known band and orchestra leaders, early in their music experience played in Salvation Army bands. The bands of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman are two of the Captain’s favorites.

Another one of Captain Holz’s duties--not a minor job either--he is Editor of the Salvation Army Music Publishing Department at the New York Headquarters. Many musicians say that the best Salvation Army music in this country comes from this department.

At this time Captain Holz is arranging a Salvation Army Hymnal for Youth and also is putting the finishing touches on an instruction method for cornet, horn, baritone, tuba and trombone.

_Merle Evans, Toscanini of the Big Top_

“See the waltzing horses keeping time to the music of the band, Johnny!” exclaimed one of the many fathers who had taken his son to the circus. The horses seemed to be crossing their slender legs to the beat of the music, and at each boom of the drums they reared gracefully.

But Johnny’s father didn’t know that Merle Evans, bandmaster of the Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus, was keeping his third eye on the waltzing, glossy-coated horses and directing his band to follow them. Merle says that he uses three eyes during performances--one to watch his music and one to glance at his players, but the third one never misses anything that goes on under the Big Top.

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.