Edwin Eugene Bagley (1857-1922) was born in Craftsbury, Vermont, USA. He began his music career at the age of nine as a vocalist and comedian with a company of entertainers that toured many of U.S.A.'s larger cities. He began playing the cornet, travelling for six years with the Swiss Bellringers. After his touring days, he joined the Blaisdell Orchestra of Concord in New Hampshire. In 1880, he came to Boston as a solo cornet player at the Park Theatre, and then for nine years, he travelled with the Bostonians Opera Company. While with this company, he changed from cornet to trombone. He also performed with the Germania Band of Boston and the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Edwin Eugene Bagley is best known for composing marches and his most famous march, National Emblem, is played as a patriotic tune on the 4th July celebrations in the United States. There was also a period when Holywood home-coming films would not have been the same, were it not for the local brass band playing the well known second strain of this march.
Music
