Will MacFarlane (1870-1945) was born in London too Scottish parents and emigrated to the US aged 4. He was organist at St Thomas Fifth Avenue and Temple Emanu-El in New York City before coming to Portland in 1912 as the first Municipal Organist. He was also one of the founders of the American Guild of Organists. He composed this march for there nation's first municipal pageant on the Eastern Prom in Portland Maine in 1913.

Katharine Lee Bates, author and educator, was born at Falmouth, Massachusetts in 1859 and penned the poem America the Beautiful after an inspiring hike in Colorado in 1893. Though dozens of musical settings of the poem were made, this version was apparently her favorite. Her brother, Arthur, lived in Portland and Katharine was well aware of Macfarlane's version. While she was reluctant to voice a favorite, she did write these words in 1922: "The original setting [of her poem] which has, thus far, won widest acceptance is that of the for­mer Municipal Organist of Portland, Will C. Macfarlane."

The score is in the public domain and may be downloaded for free.

Listen to a life performance from August 2021 on the Kotzschmar Memorial Organ by James Kennerley, Municipal Organist for the City of Portland, Maine: https://youtu.be/15IuJ8QFqmU