Background
Homer was born on December 28, 1845, in Olive, New York, United States.
Homer was born on December 28, 1845, in Olive, New York, United States.
In 1861 he studied piano and composition with a number of well-known teachers, including S.B. Mills, Max Braun and Jacobsen.
Being a musical prodigy from childhood, Homer N. Bartlett took up his first position as a church organist at the age of fourteen. He spent his adult life in New York City, where he was organist and musical director at two prestigious Protestant churches. For twelve years he served at the Marble Collegiate Church, the Dutch Reformed church founded by Peter Minuit, which is the oldest Protestant congregation in North America. At the same time, he was composing and publishing musical works in a variety of genres, from voice-and-piano pieces intended for middle-class drawing rooms to grand symphonic works such as Apollo, a “symphonic poem” based on the Iliad. He was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists, served as president of the National Association of Organists, and won a number of musical competitions, including a 1905 composition contest sponsored by the piano manufacturers Kranich & Bach.
