Karl King's Music Karl King's best-known composition has to be Barnum and Bailey's Favorite. This march has the power to conjure up the whole magnificent scene of the old tent circus -- all the aromas, all the sounds, all the sights, and, of course, the circus band. King wrote this march for the thirty-two-piece Barnum and Bailey Circus Band in 1913 at the request of the director. King was twenty-two at the time and was preparing to join the band as a euphonium player. The euphonium can be heard in a rousing countermelody. His use of the word 'favorite' in the title proved quite appropriate, as a 1980 international music survey ranked this march fourth in the top 140 marches.

The Big Cage

Karl always seemed to enjoy playing his galops, particularly The Big Cage, which was dedicated to the lion tamer, Clyde Beatty. Mr. King directed his galops in one beat per measure at about a quarter note=240. He commented that he wrote his galops as a matter of necessity.

Many times the snare drummer would not play after-beats, but instead played straight eighth notes throughout. An interesting point about galops: Mr. King said that in his circus bands he did not use French horns for galops as they could not speak fast enough. He used E flat alto horns instead. Even then, it was difficult for them to play the after-beats at such a rapid tempo. As might be expected, Mr. King demanded strong accents where written.

This concert march was dedicated by King to Glenn C. Bainum, Director of Bands at Northwestern University. In his 27 years of service as conductor of the bands, choirs, and orchestras, Bainum provided the leadership that was at a level set by William D. Revelli at the University of Michigan and A. A. Harding at the University of Illinois. He developed many new and spectacular formations with the electrically illuminated 200-member marching band. One can assume that the title of the march is a tribute to the pageantry of the purple uniformed bandsmen presenting one of these shows.

Mr. King played this march frequently; it is thought to be one of his truly great marches. Mr. King never played it at a fast tempo, but generally around half-note=100.

The Trombone King

The Trombone King was published in 1945 and was dedicated to Charlie Toops, a trombonist and bandmaster in Wilmington, Ohio. As might be expected, the trombone part rarely calms down during this march -- nor any King march, for that matter. As a former euphonium player, King made sure that the low brass players shared the best melodies. The Trombone King was performed often by the King Band at a tempo of half-note=120 to 128.

Mr. King has said that he felt that this was perhaps the finest march he ever wrote. He dedicated it to his friend, Robert D. Hamilton.

MP3s of Karl King Marches most from the U.S Air Force Band's march page
Barnum and Bailey's Favorite
The Big Cage	Aces of the Air	Cyrus the Great
Invictus	Voice of America	Sarasota
The Melody Shop #1	New Frontiers	The Melody Shop #2
Royal Scotch Highlanders		Pride of the Illini
Free World	<-7th & 8th Bands->	General Lee

The Goldman Band

Mr. King frequently played this march which he had dedicated to the late Edwin Franko Goldman.

This march was written for Mr. Cy Tremain of Fort Dodge, Iowa.  Mr. Tremain was a very colorful character and was once the bass drummer and publicity manager of the Fort Dodge Municipal Band. He was a personal friend of Mr. King. This march was used by the Hagenback-Wallace Circus for the grand entry. The march is in a minor key and has some interesting harmonic changes that do not occur in other Karl King marches.

This is one of Mr. King's earliest marches. It was dedicated to Mr. W. P. English, who at the time was Bandmaster with the Sells-Floto Circus. This was the music for the 1912 grand entry in which all participants wore garlands of flowers. Karl had a keen sense of timing, and he always set the tempo according to the mood or occasion, varying between quarter-note = 120 to 132.

Written in 1943, Henderson Field is named after the airfield on Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands).  In 1942, World War II was well underway.  Allied reconnaissance revealed Japanese constructing an airfield on the island of Guadalcanal.  The location would provide a strategic location of control for the Japanese.  U.S. forces began planning an invasion of the island known as Operation Watchtower.  The invasion took place August 7, 1942.  Within two weeks the Americans had secured the airfield.  It was named Henderson Field after Major Lofton Henderson, a Marine pilot killed at the battle of Midway in June 1942.

This is the Arcade Building at 1012 Second Avenue in Fort Dodge. The front door opens to a wide common hallway with a huge skylight.  The east (or right) side of the building was divided into three rooms; Karl King Music House was in the back while Ruth used the front two rooms for her Ruth King Music Shoppe.  Instrument displays once filled the front window.  Don Peterson had his photography business in the west half of the building.  Several well known photos of Karl King have the imprint Don Peterson, Ft. Dodge IA.

Duane Olson reports that while the building has now fallen into disrepair, that it was a quality building with a handsome brick exterier which has been covered with a "modern" facade.

Melody a la King

Melody a la King was arranged by Harry L. Alford and published by C. L. Barnhouse in 1941. It had been commissioned by Barnhouse in 1939 to honor Mr. King who was then president of the American Bandmasters Association. Mr. Alford used melodies from King's Barnum and Bailey's Favorite, Princess of India Overture, the waltz In a Moonlit Garden, the baritone solo and trio melody from A Night in June, the waltz Golden Dragon, Fountain of Youth, and Prince Charming.

March of Time was arranged by J. J. Richards and published by Barnhouse in 1936 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Barnhouse company (1886-1936). Richards used parts of six famous marches that had been published by Barnhouse. He used Fred Jewell's Gentry's Triumphal for the introduction and 1st strain, G. L. Holmes' The Banqueters for the 2nd strain. For the trio, he used Barnhouse's Messinger, J. J. Richards' The Waltonian, Karl's Barnum and Bailey's Favorite, and Russell Alexander's Tropic to Tropic.

Indiana, Our Indiana was written by Russell P. Harker and Karl King and was published by Indiana Union in 1913. Harker composed the first part of this march and used the trio of Karl King's Viking as the melody strain. This piece is used by Indiana University.

Karl King at his composing desk
See the manuscript pens which Karl King used when he composed.
View the book which Karl King studied to learn music theory.

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