Julius Ernest Wilhelm Fučík (; 18 July 1872 – 25 September 1916) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

ethnicity and conductor of military bands. He became a prolific composer, with over 400

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

es,

polka Polka is a dance style and genre of dance music in originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though generally associated with Czech and Central European culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the ...

s, and

waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

es to his name. As most of his works were for military bands, he is sometimes known as the "

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

n Sousa". Today his marches are still played as patriotic music in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. His worldwide reputation rests primarily on two works: "Florentiner Marsch", popular throughout much of Europe and the United States, and the " Entrance of the Gladiators" (''Vjezd gladiátorů''), which is widely recognized, often under the title "Thunder and Blazes", as one of the most popular theme tunes for

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

clown A clown is a person who performs physical comedy and arts in an Improvisational theatre#Comedy, open-ended fashion, typically while wearing distinct cosmetics, makeup or costume, costuming and reversing social norm, folkway-norms. The art of ...

Biography

Fučík was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, on 18 July 1872 when Prague was part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. As a student, he learned to play the

bassoon The bassoon is a musical instrument in the woodwind family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuosity ...

with Ludwig Milde,

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

with Antonín Bennewitz, and various

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

instruments, later studying composition under

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

. In 1891, he joined the 49th Austro-Hungarian Regiment as a military musician. He initially played in Krems by the Danube under Josef Wagner. In 1894, he left the army to take up a position as second bassoonist at the German Theatre in Prague. A year later he became the conductor of the Danica Choir in the

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n city of Sisak. During this time, Fučík wrote a number of chamber music pieces, mostly for clarinet and bassoon. In 1897, he rejoined the army as the bandmaster for the 86th Infantry Regiment based in

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. Shortly after, he wrote his most famous piece, the ''Einzug der Gladiatoren'' or " Entrance of the Gladiators". Originally titled ''Grande Marche Chromatique'' for its use of chromatic scales, his interest in

Roman history The history of Rome includes the history of the Rome, city of Rome as well as the Ancient Rome, civilisation of ancient Rome. Roman history has been influential on the modern world, especially in the history of the Catholic Church, and Roman la ...

led him to rename the march as he did. In 1910, Canadian composer Louis-Phillipe Laurendeau arranged "Entrance of the Gladiators" for a small band, under the title "Thunder and Blazes." It is in this version that the piece is most familiar, universally associated with the appearance of the

s in a

performance. In 1900, Fučík's band was moved to

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

where he found there were eight regimental bands ready to play his compositions, but he also faced more competition to get noticed. Having more musicians at his disposal, Fučík began to experiment with transcriptions of orchestral works. In 1907 while in Budapest he composed another march "The Florentiner March". In 1910, Fučík moved again, returning to Bohemia where he became the bandmaster of the 92nd Infantry Regiment in Theresienstadt. At the time, the band was one of the finest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and he toured with them giving concerts in Prague and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to audiences of over 10,000 people. In 1913, Fučík settled in Berlin where he started his own band, the Prager Tonkünstler-Orchester, and a music publishing company, Tempo Verlag, to market his compositions. His fortunes began to wane with the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Under the privations of the war, his business failed and his health suffered. On 25 September 1916, Julius Fučík died in Berlin at the age of 44. He is buried in Vinohrady Cemetery in Prague. Fučík was the brother of opera singer and uncle of the journalist Julius Fučík, who shared his name.

In popular culture

A 1976 barrel organ recording of Fučik’s classic march ''Die Regimentskinder'' (English: ''Children of the Regiment'') by the C. John Mears Organisation is prominently featured in popular Atari Interactive video game RollerCoaster Tycoon.

Selected works

Marches

* ''Vjezd gladiátorů'' op. 68 (Entrance of the Gladiators) (1897) * ''Salve Imperator'' op. 224 (1898) * ''Danubia'' op. 229 (1899) * ''Triglav'' op. 72 (1900) * ''Pod admirálskou vlajkou'' (1901) * ''Mississippi River'' (1902) * ''Fantastický pochod'' (Marche fantastique) (1902) * ''Triglav'' (1903) * ''Stále vpřed (Sempre avanti)'' (1904) * ''Stráž Slovanstva'' (1907) * ''Florentinský pochod'' op. 214 (Florentiner Marsch) (1907) * ''Veselí venkovští kováři'' (1908) * ''Hercegovac'' op. 235 (1908) * ''Boží bojovníci'' (1911) * ''Vítězný meč'' (1913) * ''Zvuky fanfár'' (1914) * ''Schneidig vor'' op. 79 * ''Vojenský (Il soldato)'' op. 92 * ''Stále kupředu'' op. 149 * ''Die Regimentskinder'' op. 169 * ''Attila'' op. 211 * ''Die Lustigen Dorfschmiede'' op. 218 * ''Uncle Teddy'' op. 239 * ''Furchtlos und Treu'' op. 240 * ''Die Siegesschwert'' op. 260 * ''Leitmeritzer Schuetzenmarsch'' op. 261 * ''Einzug der Olympischen Meisterringer'' op. 274 * ''Fanfarenklaenge'' op. 278 * ''Erinnerung an Trient'' op. 287 * ''Siegestrophaen'' op. 297 * ''Gigantic'' op. 311 * ''Sarajevo-Marsch'' op. 66

Waltzes and polkas

* ''Ideály snů'' – waltz (1900) * ''Od břehu Dunaje'' (''Vom Donauufer'') op. 135 – waltz (1903) * ''Escarpolette'' – waltz (1906) * Virtuoso polka for fagot ''Starý bručoun'' (1907) * ''Zimní bouře'' (''Winter Storm'') op. 184 – waltz (1907) * ''Dunajské pověsti'' – waltz (1909) * ''Baletky'' – waltz (1909) * ''Liebesflammen'' op. 248 (valzer) * ''Tanec milionů'' op. 121 (waltz)

Other works

* Concertant overtures ''Marinarella'' op. 215 (1907) and ''Miramare'' (1912) * Symphonic suite ''Život'' (Life) (1907) * ''St. Hubertus'' op. 250 (Overture) * ''Requiem'' op. 281 * Chamber compositions for clarinet and bassoon

References

* ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', 2001 * Biography a
www.klassika.info
(in German) * Biography a

(in German) * Oxford Music Online * Partial

External links

*
Midi file
of the introduction to ''Entry of the Gladiators'' also known as ''Thunder and Blazes''. * This version of his most famous march has words

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fucik, Julius 1872 births 1916 deaths 19th-century Czech classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians 20th-century Czech male musicians 20th-century Czech people Burials at Vinohrady Cemetery Czechoslovak classical composers Czech bandleaders Czech classical bassoonists Czech conductors (music) Czech male classical composers Czech military musicians Czech Romantic composers Czech male conductors (music) March musicians Composers from Prague Composers from Austria-Hungary