Entrance of the Gladiators is a military march composed in 1897 by the Bohemian composer Julius Fucik while he was bandmaster with the 86th Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Entrance of the Gladiators is also known as “Screamer” and “Thunder and Blazes”. “Entrance of the Gladiators” was originally titled “Grande Marche Chromatique” due to the extreme use of the chromatic scale, but Fucik´s interest in Roman history and its gladiators induced him to change the title.
Nowadays Entrance of the Gladiators march is indelibly linked to clowns and the circus as it was adopted by them because of its tempo and tune – here it is referred to as “Thunder and Blazes”. Though Entrance of the Gladiators (Thunder and Blazes) is widely recognized, its original name and composer are relatively unknown. The arrangement of the “circus version” of Entrance of the Gladiators (Thunder and Blazes) is generally the one by Louis-Philippe Laurendeau.
“Entrance of the Gladiators” consists of three parts, starting with the trumpets that keep the melody. The second third is the section where the low brass (mainly tubas) take over with the chromatic scale. Finally there is a trio or a slow melodic part with a chromatic scale. Altogether Entrance of the Gladiators (Thunder and Blazes) is a rather short piece of music with only one repetition. It is written in 2-2 time and is very fast paced even for its 2-2 time.