Composer’s Notes


“Grab your mandolin, guitar, red nose, baggy pants, flying cape and anything else you might need, for . . . a Day at the Circus . . .”

Although old fashioned circuses are now a thing of the past I still remember as a child, being taken to my first one! It is the sort of event that, perhaps now, I look back on through “rose coloured glasses” (appropriately) and remember fondly.

I have tried to capture this childhood experience in this work and while there may be a few serious moments, it is by and large in the form of a humorous anecdote.

The 1st movement is a march of all sorts of strange and bizarre things; in the 2nd movement the clowns make their appearance; the 3rd is the wonder and grace of the ‘high flying’ trapeze artists and the last movement is the thrill of those daredevil horse riders doing all sorts of acrobatics.


R. Charlton, October 2009


This work is copyright and no copies of the score may be made.

The parts may be copied for rehearsal & performance purposes
but must remain the property of the owner of this edition.