# What's that circus music?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 29, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650 "2006-05-29T19:38:02Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/1 "2006-05-29T19:38:02Z")
You know it. It says ‘Big Top!’ It’s _the_ tune of the circus. IIRC it has ‘Centurions’ in the name.
Also, what is the name of the tune that is (allegedly) traditionally played if there is an emergency, which is a code to the performers but keeps the audience from panicking?
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/2 "2006-05-29T19:40:54Z")
It doesn’t have a sample, but “circus music” in Wikipedia brought up [Entrance of the Gladiators](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_music%5B/url). Not sure about the other song you asked aboot.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/3 "2006-05-29T19:42:02Z")
> [@Sage Rat](#):
>
> It doesn’t have a sample, but “circus music” in Wikipedia brought up [Entrance of the Gladiators](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_music%5B/url). Not sure about the other song you asked aboot.
Ah. Gladiators, Centurions… I was close!
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### Author:  [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/4 "2006-05-29T19:44:14Z")
And…Google is saying that the other songs are:
Stars and Stripes Forever for an emergency, and…
12th Street Rag for smaller problems
[From here](http://www.gabbf.com/circus3.html)
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/5 "2006-05-29T19:44:58Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#):
>
> Ah. Gladiators, Centurions… I was close!
Ahh…Centurions were members of the Roman military. Free men.
Gladiators were, for the most part, slaves.
If you called a Centurion a Gladiator, to his face, he’d of kicked yer fanny.
If he didn’t just kill you.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/6 "2006-05-29T19:46:35Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#):
>
> If you called a Centurion a Gladiator, to his face, he’d of kicked yer fanny.
> If he didn’t just kill you.
If I were a gladiator I’d kill the guy who gave us such fruity music!
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### Author:  [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)
#### Post date: [May 29, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-that-circus-music/358650/7 "2006-05-29T22:20:38Z")
I believe you’re referring to [Julius Fucik](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Fu?%C3%ADk_%28composer%29) (1873-1916), Czech composer and conductore of military bands.
There is no truth to rumor that a concert series was once planned around the music of Fucik in combination with that of his countryman [Josef Suk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Suk_(composer)).