Karl King — America’s Second March King
Karl King — America’s Second March King
Practically everyone, whether a musician or not, has heard of John Phillip Sousa, also often called “The March King.” Sousa’s quintessentially American march, Stars and Stripes Forever, is performed as an encore march for patriotic celebrations all over the country on a regular basis.
America, it turns out, had a second “March King.” And, his name actually was King. Karl L. King, to be specific. Born on Feb. 21, 1891, King, like Sousa, was a bandmaster and composer. Many of the similarities between the two march titans stop there.
Sousa was born in the city of Washington, D.C., the son of a trombone player in the U. S. Marine band. King began his life in the village of Paintersville, Ohio. His father sold farm equipment and played tuba in the town band.
Sousa began formal musical study at about the age of six, studying voice, piano, and several band and orchestra instruments. King had almost no schooling of any kind and his musical training consisted of four piano lessons and one harmony lesson.
In short, John Phillip Sousa was the product of a strong music education — a musical genius, to be sure — but one with a great amount of help along the way.
Karl L. King, on the other hand, was much more of a “self-made” man, relying on the musical generosity of local musicians.
With one exception: When King was 11, he used money earned from delivering newspapers to buy his first instrument — a cornet. He studied with Emile Reinkendorff, director of the Grand Army Band of Canton.
Later King would develop embouchure problems and switch to the baritone, the instrument he played for the rest of his performing career.
King learned to write music by studying the music of others. Nonetheless, he had two pieces published when he was only 17.
Circus bands and circus music entered King’s life at the age of 19 when he joined the Robinson Famous Circus band as a baritone player. Following three years with various circus bands, King became a member of the renowned Barnum and Bailey Circus at the ripe old age of 22.
This was 1913 and the year King wrote the best known of all his marches, one that rivals Sousa’s trademark composition in popularity. The march is called Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite.
By the time he was 24, King had more than 150 musical compositions in print.
His musical ability on the baritone and his remarkable skill as a composer led to the most prestigious job of all for a circus musician — director of the Barnum and Bailey Circus band at 26.
During World War I Karl King hoped to be able to join John Philip Sousa at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station. Sousa had no openings and King left without ever being part of Sousa’s musical ensemble.
In 1919, King began his publishing business, the K.L. King Music House. A year later King and his family settled in Fort Dodge, Iowa where he founded the Fort Dodge Municipal Band, an organization that continues today.
Karl King died March 31, 1971 at the age of 80 in Fort Dodge. A few years before his death King said, “I’ve sung my song. It was a rather simple one; it wasn’t too involved; I’m happy about it.”
A complete list of Karl King’s compositions appears here.
Numerous recordings of Karl King marches are available online and elsewhere. Tradition: Legacy of the March Composer Series (Karl L. King) is an excellent offering available at Amazon.com. Performed by the Texas A&M University Concert Band, this recording provides a great cross-section of King marches to help you enjoy and appreciate the genius of America’s “Second March King.”