Homer Newton Bartlett

1845–1920

Introduction

Biography

Homer des­cend­ed from three May­flow­er pass­en­gers, and from Jo­si­ah Bart­lett, a sign­er of the Am­eri­can De­cla­ra­tion of In­de­pend­ence and first gov­ern­or of New Hamp­shire. His wife was Em­ma L. Cor­nell.

Bartlett’s mu­sic­al gift was evi­dent ear­ly: He be­gan play­ing the pi­ano pub­lic­ly at age 10, and be­gan com­pos­ing a year lat­er. He stu­died mu­sic un­der Se­bas­ti­an Bach Mills, Max Braun and Ja­cob­sen.

He served as or­gan­ist and mu­sic di­rect­or at the Mar­ble Col­le­gi­ate Church in New York Ci­ty for 12 years, then for 31 years at the Ma­di­son Ave­nue Ba­ptist Church.

Bartlett com­posed a wide va­ri­ety of work, in­clud­ing op­era, ora­to­rios, pol­kas, Christ­mas an­thems, and more. He was a found­ing mem­ber of the Am­eri­can Guild of Or­gan­ists, and served as pre­si­dent of the Na­tion­al As­so­cia­tion of Or­gan­ists.