Floy Little Bartlett
{{Short description|American musician (1883–1956)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Floy Little Bartlett
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1883|01|01}}
| birth_place = Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|03|07|1883|01|01}}
| death_place =
| resting_place = Aspen Grove Cemetery
Burlington, Iowa, U.S.
| nationality = American
| occupation = Composer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
}}
Floy Little Bartlett (January 1, 1883Howes, Durward, ed. (1937). [https://archive.org/details/americanwomenoff02howe/page/42/mode/2up American Women : The Official Who's Who Among the Women of the Nation, Vol. II (1937-38)]. Los Angeles, CA: American Publications, Inc. p. 42. {{OCLC|435906904}}. – March 7, 1956) was an American composer. She wrote many compositions, with one of them appearing in the 1930 sound version of the 1925 silent film The Big Parade. Bartlett also wrote a book for children in 1931 titled The Busy Book.
Early life
Bartlett was born in 1883 to Esther Palmer Little and Dr. George Little in Burlington, Iowa. She attended the Congressional Church in Burlington, where her brother played the organ for 35 years. At 23 years old, Bartlett traveled to Paris to study the violin, and after her trip she was a concert violinist. She married Sidney F. Bartlett of Burlington when she was 25 years old, and the two of them later moved to LaGrange, Illinois. After a move to New York, their son Jack was born, and their daughter Miriam was born six years later. In 1935, she received an honorary degree in music from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.{{cite book |last=L. Schmalenberger |first=Jerry |date=1985 |title=Iowa Psalms |publisher=Fairway Press |pages=34–35 |isbn=0-89536-931-1}}
Career
File:Sweet Little Woman O' Mine - Sheet Music.jpg
On March 20, 1917, the Asbury Park Press said that Bartlett is "one of the most talented of America's women composers" about her later performing at the First M.E. Church. Bartlett sang some of her songs that were for children at the church.{{cite news|title=Composer To Sing At Lenten Recital |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33567331/asbury_park_press/|newspaper=The Asbury Press|date=March 20, 1917|page=2|via = Newspapers.com|access-date =July 5, 2019}} On February 14, 1920, Buffalo Evening News wrote "The author of "This Little Woman of Mine" has a marked gift for melody" in a review of one of Bartlett's recitals.{{cite news|title=Floy Little Bartlett Recital |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33567199/buffalo_evening_news/|newspaper=Buffalo Evening News|date=February 14, 1920|page=18|via = Newspapers.com|access-date =July 5, 2019}}
On April 14, 1921, Bartlett was an accompanist and singer of her songs that she composed for children. Musical America said that she was "displaying considerable personal charm" during the performance.{{cite book|title=Musical America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pjg_AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA16-PA31|year=1921|page=31}} On June 22, 1922, The Washington Times wrote, "A dandy little number for concert work is "My Fidil Is Singing" by Floy Little Bartlett".{{cite news|title=Obituary Notes: Charles Wingate |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33567487/the_washington_times/|newspaper=The Washington Times|date=June 22, 1922|page=12|via = Newspapers.com|access-date =July 5, 2019}} The Montclair Times wrote on December 9, 1925, that Bartlett is a well-known composer.{{cite news|title=Sang Songs Of Childhood|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33566920/the_montclair_times/|newspaper=The Montclair Times|date=December 9, 1925|page=9|via = Newspapers.com|access-date =July 5, 2019}}
On May 22, 1923, Bartlett sang on WMAQ in Chicago.{{cite journal |title=The Week's Advance Broadcast Programs: Tuesday, May 22 |journal=Radio Digest |date=May 26, 1923 |volume=V |issue=7 |page=6 |url=https://archive.org/stream/radiodigest1923461923radi#page/n333/mode/2up |access-date=July 6, 2019}} She also performed her own compositions on WEAF on January 26, 1924, which The Brooklyn Citizen wrote was "in her delightful soprano voice".{{cite news|title=WEAF |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33567130/the_brooklyn_citizen/|newspaper=The Brooklyn Citizen|date=January 26, 1924|page=9|via = Newspapers.com|access-date=July 5, 2019}} In 1928, Bartlett was again featured on WMAQ. The score of her song "Sweet Little Woman o' Mine" was played in the 1925 silent film The Big Parade.{{citation|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TJWFCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA885|chapter=Hearing a Site of Masculinity in Franz Waxman's Score for Pride of the Marines (1945)|first=Neil|last=Lerner|title=The Oxford Handbook of Music and Disability Studies|editor-first=Blake|editor-last=Howe|display-authors=etal|year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-933144-4|page=885}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sfsma.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/bigparade.pdf |title=Thematic Music Cue Sheet |website=Silent Film Sound & Music Archive |access-date=July 6, 2019}} Her songs "At Dusk", "A Boy's Philosophy", and "Naughty Boy" have been sung by Ida Geer Weller.{{cite book|title=The Musical Leader|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jEFFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA187|year=1922|publisher=J. French Demerath and E. French Smith|page=187}}
Publications
Bartlett published two of her compositions, "The Swing" and "Little Blue Ribbon", in 1911, which The Des Moines Register reported "met with instant success". "The Swing" had words by Robert Louis Stevenson, and "Little Blue Ribbon" had words by Austin Dobson. The second song was dedicated to the deceased Mrs. Cate Gilbert Wells from Burlington. Kitty Cheatham liked both of the compositions and asked Bartlett for several compositions, including those that were unpublished, to use them on stage. The two compositions were sold in New York City.{{cite news|title=Mrs. Floy Little Barlett |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/33567442/the_des_moines_register/|newspaper=The Des Moines Register|date=December 10, 1911|page=8|via = Newspapers.com|access-date =July 5, 2019}}
Doubleday published The Busy Book by Bartlett about activities that children can do to keep busy. Bartlett wrote the book because of her daughter Miriam. The book includes games, puzzles, and riddles for children. The Busy Book was recommended in January 1923 in The Western Journal of Education for children in the third and fourth grades.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/westernjo383919321933wagn/page/n21 |title=Children's Books Of The Season |last=Harper |first=Wilhelmina |date=January 1923 |website=Archive |publisher=The Western Journal of Education |access-date=July 5, 2019}}
Death
Bartlett died on March 7, 1956, and was buried at the Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington, Iowa.
Bibliography
- {{Cite book|title=The Busy Book|publisher=Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc.|others=with Alida Conover|year=1931|location=Garden City, New York|oclc=5784744}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Floy Little}}
Category:American women classical composers
Category:American classical composers
Category:American women film score composers
Category:American film score composers
Category:20th-century American composers
Category:American women classical violinists
Category:People from Burlington, Iowa
Category:Classical musicians from Iowa