Merle Slease Evans (December 26, 1891 – December 31, 1987) was a cornet player and circus band conductor who conducted the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus for fifty years. He was known as the "Toscanini of the Big Top." Evans was inducted into the American Bandmasters Association in 1947 and the International Circus Hall of Fame in 1975.
Mr. Evans and his all-brass ensemble used to play about 200 different pieces of music in a three-hour performance. His repertoire pacing the ringside action included a medley of waltzes, tangos, fox trots, gallops, marches and Latin numbers, along with Wagner, Tchaikovsky and Smetana, not to mention Sousa. He wanted his music to have the zip that went with the sawdust, the beat of hoofs and the cheers of excited children.Mr. Evans also enjoyed an illustrious musical career beyond circus, recording and directing bands around the country and in Europe. There, his concert programs included Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, played before audiences in the many thousands.
He was blowing his cornet with Gus Hill's minstrels when Charles Ringling summoned him in 1919 to strike up the band for him. That was the year the circus of the five Ringling brothers joined forces with Barnum & Bailey, the creation of Phineas T. Barnum, to form the world's largest travelling exhibit, billed as ''The Greatest Show on Earth.'' Soon, the Big Top hailed Mr. Evans as a Toscanini of its very own. He wrote eight circus marches, including Symphonia and Fredella.
Evans was the band director for fifty years. He only missed performances due to a musician’s union strike in 1942 and the death of his first wife. He announced his retirement for the first time in 1955, saying that the televised circus spectacular of that year would mark his final performance. By then he had struck up
the band 22,000 times. But it was not until 1969, in his 50th year with the circus that he formally passed on his baton, along with his job of musical director. Even after that he could still be seen now and then leading the band in its red-costumed splendour. And he continued to show up as a guest conductor at workshops until last year.
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Merle Evans with Lee Wallenda |
Over the decades he witnessed the ups and downs of the circus world and the demise of the big tent, which Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey folded for the last time in Pittsburgh in 1956. He saw the acrobat Hans Jahn fall to his death in New York City in 1930 .On July 6, 1944, a fire broke out during a Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus performance.
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The fire killed around 168 people. The quick reaction of Merle Evans and his band is credited with saving thousands of lives. When Evans saw the fire, he signalled that the band should play John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” used in the circus as the “disaster march,” indicating an emergency. The performers heard the music and immediately began the evacuation. Accounts state that Evans and his band played until it was no longer safe to do so, and then evacuated and reformed outside, where their playing helped to pace the evacuation and steady the crowd.
The fire killed around 168 people. The quick reaction of Merle Evans and his band is credited with saving thousands of lives. When Evans saw the fire, he signalled that the band should play John Philip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever,” used in the circus as the “disaster march,” indicating an emergency. The performers heard the music and immediately began the evacuation. Accounts state that Evans and his band played until it was no longer safe to do so, and then evacuated and reformed outside, where their playing helped to pace the evacuation and steady the crowd.
After his retirement, Evans continued to live an active life. He served as a director of the Columbus State Bank in his hometown of Columbus, Kansas. He gave workshops and guest-led bands around the country. His second wife was Nena, who served as secretary to the owners and executives of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus. Evans died in Sarasota, Fla., the winter home of the circus on December 31, 1987. He was 96 years old.A scholarship at the Indiana University Bloomington Jacobs School of Music is named after Evans. The scholarship supports students with aspirations towards concert bands. The Midwest Clinic awarded Evans its Medal of Honour in 1966. Windjammers Unlimited credits Evans with its early success as an organization, and he is honoured in their Hall of Fame.
(Edited from Wikipedia & New York Times)