Swan Hennessy

Swan Hennessy (24 November 1866 – 26 October 1929) was an Irish-American composer and pianist who lived much of his life in Paris.[1]

Biography

Swan Hennessy was born in Rockford, Illinois of Irish origin and grew up in Chicago. According to Baker's Dictionary, he studied "general subjects" in Oxford, England, and then pursued musical studies in Germany at the Stuttgart Conservatory,[2] in the mid-1880s. After travels in Italy, France and Ireland, he settled in Paris[3] from 1907, where he died in 1929.

Hennessy was married with Claire, née Przybyszewska (1883–1947); their son Patrice Hennessy (1910–1973) became a well-known literary man, author of the play in three acts La Rude journée de la nouvelle scène (1945) and the publication L'Autographe. Valeur de placement (Paris: G. Le Prat, 1970). They are buried in a family plot on Montparnasse Cemetery, Paris, division 28, section III.

Music

Swan Hennessy wrote in an Impressionist style, often tending towards a late-romantic idiom. Many of his pieces with titles ending on terms like "celtique" or "irlandais" are inspired by Irish and Breton traditional folk melody, but he rarely quotes actual folktunes. Although he did not live in Brittany, he was a member of the Paris-based "Association des Compositeurs Bretons", with which he organised concerts.[4] In a French obituary, he was called "le barde de l'Irlande" and is credited as having saved "l'ancienne mélodie celtique".[5] He also incorporated humorous elements into his music: "Il fut un humoriste d'une verve drue dont la drôlerie était faite à la fois d'observation et d'invention, de fantaisie et de psychologie." ("He was a humourist of great verve whose humour derived from observation and invention, fantasy and psychology").[6]

Hennessy wrote extensively for the piano, and also for many chamber music instrumentations, as well as a number of songs. As yet, no orchestral scores by Hennessy have been identified, but these may explain the missing opus numbers in his work-list, from which, so far, only small-scale published scores are known. According to E.N. Waters (1955), the Irish-American composer and conductor Victor Herbert conducted works on 23 March 1913 at the Carnegie Hall, New York: "Herbert conducted music by William V. Wallace, Charles V. Stanford, Swan Hennessy, and himself."[7]

From the time Hennessy lived in Paris, his music was largely published by E. Demets and from 1923 by Éditions Max Eschig (who had taken over Demets).

Selected works

For a full list of compositions, see List of compositions by Swan Hennessy.

Bibliography

Recordings

References

  1. ↑ Hinson, Maurice & Roberts, Wesley: Guide to the Pianist's Repertoire, 4th edition (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2013), p. 499; ISBN 978-0-253-01022-3.
  2. ↑ Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 9th edition (New York: Schirmer, 2001).
  3. ↑ de Bellaing, Vefa: Dictionnaire des compositeurs de musique en Bretagne (Nantes: Ouest Éditions, 1992).
  4. ↑ See, for example, Gil Blas, 19 April 1914, p. 4.
  5. ↑ L'Européen, 12 February 1930, p. 3.
  6. ↑ L'Européen, as above.
  7. ↑ Edward N. Waters: Victor Herbert. A Life in Music (New York: Macmillan, 1955), p. 418.
  8. ↑ See entry in Bielefelder Katalog: http://www.bielekat.info/index.php?action=showdetail&id=39451.

External links

[[Category:State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart alumni]

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