Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages!

Julius Fučík was born in Prague 150 years ago!

Fučík was one of the finest bandmasters in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In fact, comparisons were often drawn to his American counterpart, John Philip Sousa. In all, Fučík composed some 400 marches, polkas, and waltzes. You may not know him by name, but you most certainly know his music, especially if you’ve ever been under the Big Top.

Interestingly, Fučík’s original title for his most famous march, composed in 1897, was “Grande Marche Chromatique” – not exactly calculated to sell sheet music. But his interest in Roman history (thanks to a reading of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s novel “Quo Vadis”) led him to retitle the piece “Entry of the Gladiators.”

It turns out it wasn’t all that great a leap from gladiators to clowns, as the music soon became inextricably linked with American circuses. As opposed to Roman ones.

Let’s hope Fučík saw a few royalty checks (doubtful).

Happy 150th, Julius Fučík!