Sidney Homer, Sr. (9 December 1864 – 10 July 1953) was a classical

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

, primarily of songs.

Biography

Homer was the youngest child born to deaf parents in Boston, Massachusetts on December 9, 1864 (some sources use 1865). He attended the 1884 class of

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover, Massachusetts, Andover , stat ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...

, but did not attend college, although he studied composition with

George Whitefield Chadwick George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what is called the Se ...

and with

Josef Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liech ...

in Munich. He married

contralto A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...

Louise Dilworth Beatty in 1895. Sidney and Louise had six children, including twin daughters Anne Homer and Kathryn Homer, son Sidney Homer, Jr. (economist and author), and daughter Louise Homer. Sidney Homer died on July 10, 1953 in

Winter Park, Florida Winter Park is a city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 30,183 according to the 2022 census population estimate. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Winter Park was f ...

Legacy

Sidney Homer's influence included his mentoring and supporting his nephew, the composer

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Probab ...

. Scholarship on Homer was a particular focus of musicologist Harry Colin Thorpe.See Harry Colin Thorpe
"The Songs of Sidney Homer"
in ''

Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...

'', Vol. XVII (1931), pp. 47-73. Homer composed many of his songs with the voice of his famous wife in mind. Among his most famous songs are "A Banjo Song" (Weeden), "Requiem" (Stevenson), "Casey at the Bat" (Thayer), and "The House that Jack Built" ("Mother Goose.") Homer's memoir, ''My Wife and I'', was published by Macmillan in 1939 and reprinted by Da Capo Press in 1978.

Notes

External links

*
Sidney Homer page at The Lied and Art Song Texts PageSidney Homer scores
(the composer's manuscripts) in th
Music Division
o
The New York Public Library for the Performing ArtsThe Songs of Sidney Homer
*Sheet music fo
"Plantation Hymn"
G. Schirmer, New York, from th
Alabama Sheet Music Collection
*Sidney Homer page a
Song of America
1864 births 1953 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male musicians 19th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers American classical composers American male classical composers Classical musicians from Massachusetts People from Winter Park, Florida Phillips Academy alumni Burials in Warren County, New York {{US-composer-19thC-stub