More Materials Related to
Karl L. King
Iowa's March King
 Pictured at left is the archiving team:
Duane and Nancy Olson, historians
Alan Spohnheimer, webmaster
The websites on this page open in a new browser tab:

Check out the book:
Karl L. King
An American Bandmaster
by Thomas J. Hatton
published by the Instrumentalist Company

Purchase the book:
Hawkeye Glory
The History of the Karl L. King Municipal Band of Fort Dodge, Iowa
by Thomas J. Hatton
published by Golden Dragon Press

The Order of the Walking Frog
for those who regularly play the music of Karl King

Karl King Bandshell
1938 WPA Project by Henry Kamphoefner and Prairie Architects

Fort Dodge's Shellabration for the Olseson Park Bandshell

Walking Frog Records
Producer and distributor of Band CDs
including Circus Days and Golden Days of the March
which include King marches

Windjammers Unlimited
where Karl King was the first in the Windjammers Hall of Fame
and is mentioned in several issues of their publication Circus Fanfare.

Click to view!


Images & Portions of the Karl King Website have been copied:

It's a whole other country: from Texas, Karl L. King
from Kenedy Independent School District, Kenedy, Texas

Images & Portions of the Karl King Website have been copied and duly credited:

Our Iowa Heritage tells about Iowa's March King


10 Great Things about Marches

Marches are easy to follow 
Marches bring out the best of every instrument section 
Marches have a lot of feeling and motion 
Every march is unique 
Marches are sophisticated, and never boring 
Marches are versatile; they can be played by any band
Marches are not so long that they lose the attention of the listener
Almost every music composer has written marches 
Marches are used in parades and circuses 
A march will stay in the heart and soul of the listener
adapted



The following websites open in a new browser tab:

Visit Website

The International Circus Hall of Fame
 Karl King is on the list under the year 1971, the year we lost Karl, and 1974.

Wagons at the Circus Hall of Fame
Several Bandwagons are included.


The Goldman Memorial Band
keeping the tradition of Edwin Franko Goldman alive in NYC

The National Music Museum - The Shrine to Music
Historical Instruments

C. L. Barnhouse Company
Karl L. King compositions are available for sale.
Includes a Karl King biography and list of compositions

Arkiv Music's list of Karl King music and a short biography

The History of Conn Music Instrument Company

The History of King Music Instrument Company


photo courtesy of Andy Glover


The John Philip Sousa Page - - - The Sousa Archives at the University of Illinois

Fellow composer and conductor Karl King noted Sousa's performance style in a 1946 letter to a colleague. King wrote, Even in his marches, Sousa pulled some strains down to a whisper which always made the last strain sound that much better by contrast. Also, Sousa had a few little tricks on pianissimos that I observed and I always wondered why other leaders who heard him didn't get 'hep' to how he did it but apparently they didn't.

Iowa Band Museum, Cedar Falls

The Greatest Show on Earth
Web site of the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus

Circuses Past and Present
History and Lore



For Scholars only

Karl King in the University of Maryland's Papers and Music Collection

Obituary of John A. Crosby


contact: awspohnheimer  (at) gmail dot com

back to the Karl King Page