Frederick E. Bigelow

Frederick Ellsworth Bigelow was born in the state of Massachusetts in 1873. He was a pharmacist by profession and was self-taught on clarinet and saxophone. He and four brothers were in a brass band, and he is known to have played at Windsor Castle for Queen Victoria. He also composed a march called NC-4 to recognise Commander Albert C. Reid's first flying boat crossing of the Atlantic in 1919.

Arguably his march Our Director, which was the first of three known works, is the most played American march. It was published in 1895, and has been arranged many times since. He died in 1929.

Music