July 31, 2011

The final concert of the 2011 summer series by the Karl L. King Municipal Band of Fort Dodge was held on Sunday evening, July 31.  The band featured a variety of marches, classical works, and popular selections during this hour-long concert.

Selections by King are always on the program, and this week, the audience heard Canton Aero Club and Sunshine Galop.  In addition, the King Band performed Henry Fillmore’s The Circus Bee March.

The evening’s overture presentation was Finale from Symphony in F Minor No. 4, written by the Russian composer Peter I. Tschaikowsky.  This symphony ranks as one of the most inspired works of its kind.  It is a splendid example of Tschaikowsky’s inventive powers, his originality, and overwhelming command of instrumental effects and resources.  It has always been a great favorite with concert audiences and is regularly performed by all prominent symphony orchestras and professional bands.

Ardella Hein and Diana Chou, both from Fort Dodge, were special performers for this program.  Ardella became a member of the King Band for the winter concerts of 1967.  She has also been a member of the Fort Dodge Area Symphony since the fall of 1966. She recently retired as the band director at St. Paul Lutheran School after 36 years.  Diana is a 2011 graduate of Fort Dodge Senior High.  A National Merit Scholar and four-year All-State clarinetist, she has been a member of the Karl King Municipal Band since 2008.  She also has played viola in the Fort Dodge Area Symphony.  In the fall, she will attend Amherst College in Massachusetts, majoring in mathematics.  Together they performed a Clarinet duet, The Two Little Bulfinches, arranged for Band by conductor Jimmerson.  The Fort Dodge Municipal Band originally performed this work during the Corn Palace concerts in 1921 in Mitchell, South Dakota, shortly after Karl King came to Fort Dodge.  It had been lost for several years until this arrangement was created, and this was the premier performance.

Also on the program was Mississippi Suite Overture by the prominent American composer, arranger and pianist, Ferde Grofe.   Lighter selections included Leroy Anderson’s March of the Two Left Feet, and Rush Street Tarantella.

This final summer concert closed in the traditional circus way, with the playing of Karl King’s march, Auld Lang Syne, followed by our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.