Alexander Frame Lithgow (1870-1929) was a composer, conductor, and award winning cornettist. Originally from Glasgow, his family migrated to the New Zealand city of Invercargill when he was 6. He spent his formative years there. At age 24, he relocated to the Tasmanian city of Launceston to become the director of St Joseph’s Total Abstinence Society Band, reputed to be the oldest band in Australia. He maintained a relationship with this band over many years while also conducting several other group in Australia and New Zealand. His compositions include more than 50 marches and other works for many types of ensembles and soloists. Many of them made it to publication, although some manuscripts at German publishing houses were lost during World War I. When he died at age 59 in Launceston, his funeral was attended by thousands. See more at Wikipedia, the Wind Repertory Project, Sounz, and DigitalNZ.

One feature of Lithgow’s funeral was a massed band playing his most famous march, Invercargill, named after and inspired by the city where he spent his youth. He wrote it for the Invercargill Garrison Band, of which he had been a member, in 1908. It achieved world-wide fame in 1913, when it was published by Carl Fischer in an arrangement by L. P. Laurendeau (see the sheet music here). It has remained popular ever since. Lithgow inscribed the score “To Invercargill, the southernmost city in New Zealand (the end of the world) and its citizens, I dedicate this March as a memento of many pleasant years spent there in my boyhood.” Take a listen:

You can read about Invercargill at Wikipedia and Stuff. There are many different arrangements and editions of Invercargill, including versions by Andrew Glover, Andrew Balent, Alan Gregory, in addition to the original publication by Laurendeau.