Rolling Thunder By Henry Fillmore Presentation by Kim Walls April 3, 2001 For Grade 4 Form: Sections of a composition may repeat The audio CD “Screamers: Circus Marches” Mercury , The Eastman Wind Ensemble, Conducted by Frederick Fennell, must be inserted.

Henry Fillmore Henry Fillmore was one of the most famous concert band directors and march composers of the 20th Century. He published so many marches that he used psuedonyms for many of them. Henry Fillmore “retired” to Florida in the 1930’s and helped build school bands throughout the state.

Rolling Thunder Rolling Thunder is a march that was composed for circus bands. Circus band music is often very fast and loud. It is performed to introduce and accompany circus acts. This circus march features trombones, euphoniums, and tubas playing the melody.

Rolling Thunder In the first half of the 20th Century, the travelling circus was a major form of entertainment in the United States. Television did not exist.

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Introduction 1st strain 1st strain repeated 2nd strain 2nd strain repeated Trio “Break” strain Trio repeated

The End

References Bierly, Paul E. (1982). Hallelujah Trombone: The Story of Henry Fillmore. Columbus, OH: Integrity Press. ISBM Croft, J., & Rohrer, T. (1990). A Tribute to Uncle Henry. Tallahassee, FL: FSU Band. The Eastman Wind Ensemble, Conducted by Frederick Fennell. (1991). “Screamers: Circus Marches” Mercury

Credits Background image digital photography by Kim Walls Slide 1 fanfare notation screen shot by Kim Walls Slide 2 Image of Henry Fillmore. NBA Hall of Fame Entrance Page. Retrieved June 10, 2005 from Slides 9, 10, 11, 13. Trombone and Tuba from Salvation Army Clip Art Collection. Retrieved October 10, 2001 from Slides 7, 8, & 12. Circus images. The Midway. Retrieved October 10, 2001 from Slide 14 Thundercloud. Photoshop file by Kim Walls

Implementation This slide show could be used in a variety of ways. I would use it with my middle school band as we learned a Henry Fillmore march (such as Activity or Military Escort). I would show this show at the beginning of the unit to introduce Henry Fillmore. Then, I would discuss how marches typically have sections that repeat in a given order. I would explain that the sections are named “1st strain,” “2nd strain,” “Trio,” and “Break Strain” (also known as dogfight). We would then listen and watch the slide show. Before listening the second time, I would help students devise ways to signal the sections, such as 1 finger for first strain, etc. (The break or dog fight signal would be funny.) They would show when they heard each section by signaling. On the third hearing, I would hide the display and have them simply show the signal. Finally, the fourth time, we would view the slide show, but I would have them count the number of measures, and write down the number of measures in each section on a sheet of paper or a work sheet. As an assessment, I would produce a slide show without the timing and have each student go to my office individually to advance the show correctly, record the timing, and save their file to the computer. I could then check the timings in the slide sorter view to grade each student. After we learned our Henry Fillmore march, I would encourage students to draw or create images to display in a slide show during our performance. At the concert, one of the students would explain the form and the images to the parents before we performed.