Music of the Moscow Circus

by Scott YanowIn 1991 Bobby Previte was given a most unusual assignment: to create a new score of music for the Moscow Circus. Previte, an innovative composer who learned from Gil Evans the joy of combining together acoustic and electronic instruments, was up to the challenging task. The result is a generally fascinating soundtrack, music that stands up by itself but makes one very curious to see how it fits into the circus routines. The music ranges from an electronic opening overture that wittily hints at some past circus themes, several hypnotic new age pieces written to accompany death-defying feats and six brief "clown segments" which are purposely chaotic. Violinist Mark Feldman has some moments in the spotlight and cornetist Herb Robertson gets to lead the riotous clown interludes, but the bulk of the credit for this episodic, colorful and somewhat unique score's success lies with the composer.