The celebrated circus tunes: music and musicians in an eighteenth-century circus

The early modern circus was not only a feast for the eyes, but also for the ears. Music accompanied the equestrians, tumblers, and dancers (on the rope, horse and stage), and underscored the pantomimes. It came to the fore in the performance of burlettas and in individual songs, often performed by audience request. Sometimes the audience joined in a rousing chorus. The visual spectacle was always ‘heard through’ music, and popular music from the circus performances (as for the patent theatres of the day), was published for the domestic market, ensuring that some part of the experience could be relived at home. This article examines the function of music in the circus during the late eighteenth-century, considering how it supported the physical performances, and how these functions were underpinned by the embodied practices of the musicians. Kim Baston is a Senior Lecturer in Theatre and Drama at La Trobe University and member of the curriculum advisory group of the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA). Her research interests include popular entertainments in the eighteenth century, circus history and culture, and the intersection of music and theatre. Her recent publications have appeared in Early Popular Visual Culture (2018), Popular Entertainment Studies (2016), The Routledge Circus Studies Reader (2016) and Australasian Drama Studies (2015).