Frederick Ellsworth Bigelow (1873-1929) spent his career as a pharmacist in Salem, Massachusetts. All the while, he played in brass bands and wind bands, particularly the Salem Cadet Band. He wrote several marches for this group and others: his most famous work remains the Our Director March, written in 1892 while he was with his hometown Ashland (Mass) Brass Band, which he helped to found as a young man. Others of his works have retained some familiarity, particularly The NC-4. This small though significant output has led to tributes several corners of the internet, notably the Bigelow Society, Rundel Music (twice), the Wind Repertory Project, Walker Homeschool Blog, and the Ballygowan Flute Band. His papers are held at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.
Bigelow was already long-famous as “Composer of ‘Our Director’ March” when he wrote The NC-4 in 1919. It commemorates the first successful transatlantic flight (with stops) of the titular Curtiss NC-4 in May of that year. This accomplishment would be overshadowed in short order by the first nonstop transatlantic flight just two weeks later.
The original edition of The NC-4 is available for free from the Band Music PDF Library. The Smithsonian has a viewable digital score of this edition. There is also a modern (though currently out of print) edition from James Ployhar that shows up at J. W. Pepper and Alfred Music. There is also a version for theater orchestra at IMSLP.