Julius Ernest Wilhelm Fučík (; 18 July 1872 – 25 September 1916) was a Czech composer 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. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

es, polkas, and

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...

es to his name. As most of his works were for military bands, he is sometimes known as the " Bohemian Sousa". Today his marches are still played as patriotic music in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. His worldwide reputation rests primarily on two works: "The Florentiner March", popular throughout much of Europe, 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 uni ...

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

s. Fučík was the brother of opera singer and bass player Karel Fučík and uncle of the journalist Julius Fučík, who was executed by the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

Biography

Fučík was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Bohemia, on 18 July 1872 when Prague was part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with t ...

. As a student, he learned to play the bassoon with Ludwig Milde,

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

with Antonín Bennewitz, and various

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

instruments, later studying composition under

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist exampl ...

. 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 Sisak (; hu, Sziszek ; also known by other alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa, Sava and Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usually considered to be where the Posavin ...

. 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

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajev ...

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

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

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 and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

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 1910, Fučík moved again, returning to Bohemia where he became the bandmaster of the 92nd Infantry Regiment in

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination camp ...

. 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 Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

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 (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

. 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, likely of a heart attack. He is buried in

Vinohrady Cemetery Vinohrady Cemetery ( cs, Vinohradský hřbitov) is a large cemetery in Vinohrady in Prague 10 which contains Strašnice Crematorium. It is the second largest cemetery in Prague and is registered in the state list of cultural monuments. The remains ...

in Prague.

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 March) (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

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

External links

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fucik, Julius 1872 births 1916 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Czech male musicians 19th-century Czech people 20th-century classical composers 20th-century Czech male musicians 20th-century Czech people Czech bandleaders Czech classical bassoonists Czech classical musicians Czech conductors (music) Czech male classical composers Czech military musicians Czech Romantic composers Male conductors (music) March musicians Musicians from Prague