The Library of Circus Music

Since the 1940s, circus music has been predominantly defined by one song until Matt Margucci entered the scene. Rather than stick solely to creating traditional circus music, Matt created circus music that represented multiple emotions like happiness and fear. Consisting of 260 pieces of music compiled into 20 volumes, the archives received his work in May of 2020 as a loan and will use the collection to educate listeners about the circus and inspire listeners to create something creative and unique.

Special thanks to Mary Larson, Associate Dean for the OSU Libraries, and Matt Margucci, creator of the circus music heard in the episode, for sharing your stories.

Find the OSU Archives online at info.library.okstate.edu/scua/home

Explore the Archives Facebook page and see photos from the Archives.

Olivia Turner is the Archives digital storytelling intern at the Oklahoma State Library and a student at Oklahoma State University. Olivia is majoring in strategic communication because of the variety the major offers and for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities she has to interview creative and interesting people.

The Library hosts a suite of podcasts. Amplified Oklahoma and Dear Oklahoma, both produced by the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at the OSU Library, can be found wherever you get your podcasts.