So I learned something new! As we walked around town to see the 4th of July celebrations we stopped by a big stage where a large orchestra was playing the classic circus song of all times (click here to listen to it). Our friend, knowing that I am Czech, mentioned that the song had a Czech origin. “Really???” I couldn’t believe the fact that I didn’t know that! Such a famous song! Even some obscure tribe in the forests of Africa would recognize that tune. So I went home and – of course – Googled the words “circus march” and – of course – the search lead me to Wikipedia. And now I want to share my brains with you: the march is called the “Entrance of the Gladiators” (or Vjezd gladiatoru) and it was originally composed as a military march in 1897 by a Czech composer Julius Fucik (!!). The poor guy is probably turning in his grave now from what had happened to his MILITARY march…Besides the fact that Fucik studied composition under Antonin Dvorak (creator of the New World Symphony) and that his nephew, also Julius Fucik, was a very active member of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (and was beheaded by the Nazis in 1943) there is nothing greatly interesting about him;)
PS: Just a little note about the march itself: my husband, who is a music major, jokingly said “no wonder that Czechs lost so many wars because musically speaking, the last thing the song conveys is courage, bravery and a determined march into battle; it sounds more like the Monty Python skit, in which the only thing that’s happening is a bunch of soldiers are running around poking each other in their butts with their bayonets:)
CZ: Tak jsem se naucila opet neco noveho! Na “July 4th” jsme s rodinou prochazeli poulicni oslavy, a pozastavili jsme se u jednoho velkeho podia, kde orchestrova kapela zrovna hrala tu nejklasictejsi cirkusovou melodii (poslechnete si ji zde). Jeden z nasich kamaradu se me zeptal, jestli pry vim, ze ta pisnicka/melodie je ceskeho puvodu. “Coze??” Nemohla jsem tomu verit. Hned pote, co jsme prisli domu, jsem si “zagooglovala” slova “famous circus songs” a vyzkum me navedl na stranky Wikipedie, kde jsem si tuto informaci potvrdila: tato vlastne nejznamejsi cirkusova melodie na svete byla dokoncena v roce 1897 ceskym skladatelem Juliem Fucikem. Oficialne se tato skladba jmenuje “Vjezd gladiatoru” – mela to tedy originalne byt vojenska pochodova pisnicka….no, chudak Fucik.
Krome toho ze byl Julius Fucik zakem Antonina Dvoraka a ze jeho synovec – take Julius Fucik – byl odhodlanym komunistou (a take za to byl zavrazden komunisty v roce 1943) jsem nic zajimaveho o jeho osobnosti nenasla 😉
PS: Jen mala poznamka: muj manzel je hudebnik a kdyz se dozvedel, ze tato melodie byla puvodne urcena pro vojensky pochod, tak z legrace podotkl “no, neni divu, ze Cesi prohrali tolik valek, protoze z hudebniho hlediska, posledni co tato muzika sdeluje je nebojacnost, kuraz a odhodlany pochod do bitvy. Spis to zni jako scenka z Montyho Pythona, kde jedine co se na “bitevnim” poli deje, je par vojacku vzajemne pichajicich se do zadku svymi tupymi bajonety:)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrance_of_the_Gladiators
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