CIRCUS DAYS GALOP

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THIS MARCH WAS WRITTEN IN 1944 BY KARL L. KING. BECAUSE HE DIRECTED CIRCUS BANDS, MANY OF HIS WORKS WERE WRITTEN IN TENTS BY THE LIGHT OF A FLASHLIGHT OR KEROSENE LANTERN. PERFORMED BY THE 1971 ILLINOIS UNIV. BAND.

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Symphonic Band Performances

Contemporary band compositions, classical music arrangements, marches, jazz, symphonies, overtures. A collection from bands that I have played in throughout hi

Hello and welcome! "Symphonic Band Performances" is a compilation of recordings from several high school and college bands that I played in including the TMEA (Texas) All State Band, the TMEA Region X All Region Band, the Interlochen Arts Academy National Music Camp, the Cal Poly Tech Band, San Luis Obispo, the USAF Golden West Band, and recordings from my h.s. band, Beaumont H.S. and a few band recordings that were passed down to me. Also included are various All State groups and college and university bands. I participated and played in the large majority of these recordings. There are no professional recordings here and every recording is Public Domain. Most are available for free download. Each song has been converted from the original analog or digital source and edited with Audacity or Dak software. In the majority of these recordings, I play the tenor sax or alto sax, b flat or e flat clarinet, or directing. I was drum major for 2 years in high school, I have a BA from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I studied music ed, composition and theory. I had about 500 more recordings I was planning to digitize and upload, but this past Nov. 20th, my home was completely destroyed by fire, and all the contents, including all my music and instruments. So, this is it. Please feel free to post a comment here or on my member page. If you like, please become a fan by clicking "I'm a fan" below.

Song Info

Genre

Classical • Ensembles

Charts

Peak #69

Peak in subgenre #4

Rights

public domain

Uploaded

October 05, 2009

Track Files

MP3

MP3 2.1 MB • 192 kbps • 1:33

Story behind the song

At age 19, King got a job with Robinson’s Famous Circus as a baritone 
player. It was the start of some 10 years with several different circus bands. He worked his way up and became director. While with the Sells Floto Circus, King worked personally with Bro. William Cody, better known as "Buffalo Bill." King ended his career as director of the Barnum and Bailey Band. During his time with the circus, he wrote several numbers including his most famous march, "Barnum and Bailey’s Favorite." 
He was scheduled to become director of the Army band at Camp Grant, Illinois, in late 1918, but the end of the war came on the very day he was ordered to report. While with the circus, he got married, and his wife played the calliope for a short time with the Barnum and Bailey Band. His rather hectic life with the circus caused him to desire a more subdued existence where he would have more time to write music. An offer from Ft. Dodge, Iowa, to direct a band there provided that opportunity. At 29 years of age, he moved with his wife and young son to Iowa. 
Although King had never had any formal education either in directing or in composition, he was adept at both. The band he directed in Ft. Dodge was initially sponsored by a local club and supported by donations. It had a good reputation when King came, and he enhanced it further by attracting fine musicians from outside the community. Local businesses cooperated by providing employment to these incoming musicians. 
Prior to coming to Ft. Dodge, King had developed his own publishing company, and he continued to publish his own music in the new location. Repeating his experience as a circus "trooper," the Ft. Dodge Band played at Fairs including the Iowa State Fair. A delegation from South Dakota heard the band and hired it to play at the Corn Palace in September 1921 for the sizeable sum at that time of $5,000. They soon began playing at fairs all around Iowa and nearby states. 
In passing the Iowa Band Law of 1922, the Iowa Legislature passed the first legislation of its kind anywhere. That law enabled local communities to levy a small tax of two mills to support a local municipal band. More than 40 states passed similar legislation, and King wrote "The Iowa Band Law" march to commemorate that event.