Barnum and Bailey's Fractured Favorite by Karl L. King/arr. Thomas G. Leslie

MusicWorks - Grade 4
When Karl King was conducting circus bands he would frequently edit his marches so the same composition could be used for contrasting acts (for example a “lion” act one time, and a “trapeze” act the next). In the same spirit, Thomas Leslie has creatively repurposed this familiar march to suit an imaginary “clown” act; complete with novelty percussion sounds and a few surprises sprinkled in. A bit outrageous, but definitely fun!
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[joeywomer]

I remember playing this twice in High school. Once after a spring concert one year and it was just for sight reading afterwards until school ended that year. The second time was during a parade in our city. We never played it that fast.

[danieljbruso]

Played this at Regionals 2023 on baritone (senior year in HS). Gotta love that 2nd strain and dogfight!

[scorn-]

Just got this in my school wind ensemble, im a freshman playing on snare and I’m so excited to play this!!!!

Edit: We didnt play this :(

[fatcontroller]

And... there goes my tongue... dang it.

[clutzykanine]

Gotta admit, the percussion part is hella fun (played the crash cymbals for my bands performance of this)

[MelaMA_c]

My high school went a bit above on tempo on this for festival and it was so much fun

[scorn-]

Oh what I would do to play this in a band at full speed one day

[RoseCadenza]

Please do some more of Karl King's marches! I love his marches! :D

[CoreyTaylorsNeck]

my fingers my tongue and my limbs are going to fall off

[JupiterLance]

This is my fourth time and we’re playing it by memory which is um yeah

[ElinWang]

well ppls tongue is gonna fall down after this

[EddieMillerStudios]

I just got hit in the face with a pie.

[aashnagundawar]

My band is playing this in middle school

[alyssaferguson]

As of being in relation to P.T Barnum I give it a thumbs up :)

[LelaMB]

Yall my freshman band is playing this and we never play it this fast

[meganluke]

You just don't hear slide whistle playing like that anymore>

[LoveEDP]

Not me holding my tongue to protect it from the music 😢

[benlarsen]

Bruh how is this a grade 4 it should be a grade 5 or 6 because it's too fast for grade 4 players

[Shostyy]

Not the biggest fan in the world (no disrespect intended) I just prefer the original transcription. All the quirkiness takes away from the music in my... probably unpopular...opinion.

[jaydenrobinson]

I played this in 8th grade honors band. I play bass clarinet