Screamer! a three-ring blur for orchestra, was composed in Ann Arbor, Michigan during October and November of 2002.  Upon the suggestion of my teacher at the time, William Bolcom, I decided to compose a work that would be “fun”, having recently completed the “serious” chamber pieces hope in the proles. and Sunday Morning Trepanation.  The result is Screamer!, a somewhat dark essay depicting the blurred memory of a circus.

The term “screamer” is one long associated with the American Circus in a variety of ways.  First, it was the nickname given by “circus folk” to the Steam Calliope, a piercingly loud and oft out-of-tune instrument used to attract attention to certain areas within the circus and which, often on wheels, would provide music during the circus parades.  Ironically named after the Greek Muse of Eloquence, the Steam Calliope is present in this work thanks to modern sampling technology.

Secondly, and how I first came to know the term, it is the nickname given to circus marches, generally taken at breakneck speeds and, in their original circus context, ending abruptly with a B-flat major chord as soon as the action in the ring had concluded.  Henry Fillmore’s “The Circus Bee”, and Julius Fucík’s “Entry of the Gladiators” are classic examples of this form and are still performed today as part of the Symphonic Band literature. 

Although John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” arguably the most famous American march, is not technically a screamer, it was, in fact, used in the circus in a fairly peculiar way.  Essentially, were the tightrope walker to fall and break his or her neck, or some other such horror occur, the Band would strike up the Sousa as a cue to “send in the clowns” to distract the audience while they attended to the injured performer. 

It is from this somewhat warped perspective (combined with vivid memories of clowns from Tim Burton films) that I began my work, imagining a circus out of control, doing my best to combine the best of the light and dark elements that the Circus had to offer.  Included are:

Lasting approximately five minutes, Screamer! was premiered on February 11^th, 2003 by the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Laura Jackson. The work is dedicated to William Bolcom, for getting me to lighten up…if only a little…and because he loved the circus so much as a boy.