"Sobre las Olas" ("Over the Waves") - Clara-Belle the Calliope - Flying Trapeze

Clara-Belle the Calliope spent the day, May 2, 2013, recording songs in Plainfield, NH. Beautifully played and selected by Professor Louie (A/K/A Aaron Hurwitz), invited guests enjoyed watching the proceedings.

The calliope was built in 1926 for Ringling Brothers, Barnum & Bailey Circus as their first air-driven calliope. Prior to this they used a steam-driven calliope. She was renamed "Clara-Belle" in honor of three children's entertainment related entities: Clarabell the Clown from "Howdy Doody" (originally portrayed by Bob Keeshan, who later went on to portray "Captain Kangaroo"); Clarabelle the Cow from Walt Disney cartoons; and from the animated show, "Thomas the Tank Engine", who towed two passenger cars, Annie and Clarabel.

"Sobre las Olas" ("Over the Waves") was written by Mexican composer Juventino Rosas, and was first published in 1888. It's often mistakenly thought of as a Johann Strauss waltz. It "remains one of the most famous Latin American pieces worldwide," according to the "Latin America" article in The Oxford Companion to Music.

It's also often misnamed "The Man on the Flying Trapeze", allegedly about trapeze artist Jules Léotard (yes, the inventor of that stretchy material), with another author claiming credit.

This waltz is performed in the James Bond movie, Octopussy, in the scene in the Circus in Germany. Words have been put to it and sung by Warner Brothers cartoon Daffy Duck, by Walt Disney's The Three Caballeros, and even by Popeye the Sailor. This is one of the songs featured in the video game Wii Music and in Sega's arcade game, Carnival.

I consider this the second most recognized circus song after "The Entrance of the Gladiators" (a/k/a "Thunder & Blazes").

For further information on Clara-Belle the Calliope please 'like' her on Facebook at:   / clarabellethecalliope