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Freda Swain in 1931.

Freda Swain (born 1902, died 1985) was a talented British musician. She was a composer, a pianist, and a music teacher. She wrote many pieces of music and helped other young musicians.

About Freda Swain

Freda Swain was born in Portsmouth, England, on October 31, 1902. Her parents were Thomas and Gertrude Swain. When she was 11, Freda started piano lessons in London at the Tobias Matthay Piano School. Her teacher was Dora, the sister of famous piano teacher Tobias Matthay.

Just three years later, Freda went to the Royal College of Music. There, she studied how to compose music with Charles Villiers Stanford. She also continued her piano studies with Arthur Alexander. Freda was a very good student and won awards, including the Sullivan Prize in 1921.

Freda's Career and Family Life

In 1924, Freda Swain began teaching at the Royal College of Music. In 1936, she started the British Music Movement. This group helped new, young composers and artists share their work.

Freda married her piano teacher, Arthur Alexander, in 1921. Before World War II, they traveled a lot. They visited South Africa and Australia, giving talks, performing music, and broadcasting on the radio. Both Freda and Arthur helped start the Surrey College of Music in the 1940s. From 1942, they lived in Oxfordshire. Freda Swain passed away on January 29, 1985.

Freda Swain's Music

Freda Swain wrote about 450 pieces of music! She composed music for piano, for small groups of instruments (called chamber music), and many songs. She also wrote operas and pieces for full orchestras. These included two piano concertos and a clarinet concerto.

Not many of her pieces were performed publicly. However, she started her own concert series called the NEMO Series after the war. This series featured some of her works.

Famous Works and Performances

One of Freda's first big successes was The Harp of Aengus. This piece was for violin and orchestra. It was inspired by a poem by W. B. Yeats. It was performed in London in 1925 with Achille Rivarde playing the violin.

Another important piece was her solo Violin Sonata. It was first performed in 1933 by May Harrison. During World War II, Freda's husband, Arthur Alexander, was stuck in South Africa. Freda composed her ‘Airmail’ Piano Concerto and sent it to him in parts by mail! Arthur later performed it in Cape Town. Freda also wrote a one-act opera called Second Chance. She started two other operas but did not finish them.

Other Compositions

Freda Swain wrote many pieces for the piano. These included three large piano sonatas and about 40 other solo piano works. Many of these were written to help students learn music.

She also wrote a cello sonata, and two violin sonatas (one with piano, one without). She composed two string quartets, a piano quartet, and a sextet for horn and clarinet. There was even a Suite for Six Trumpets and many other pieces for different instruments.

After Freda Swain died, her music papers were given to her student and friend, David Stevens. He started the Swain-Alexander Trust. In 2005, the papers were given to a Swiss pianist named Timon Altwegg. He has started recording Freda's piano music for a record label called Toccata Classics.

Selected Music Pieces

Here are some of the types of music Freda Swain composed:

Chamber Music

  • The Sea (for piano and three string instruments, 1938)
  • Sextet (for six instruments, including horn and clarinet)
  • String Quartet No 1 Norfolk (1924)
  • String Quartet No 2 in G minor (1949)
  • Suite for Six Trumpets

Choral Music

  • Bells of Heaven (a Christmas carol)
  • Breathe on Me, Breath of God (a church song)
  • Cantata In memoriam
  • A Gaelic Prayer (a church song)
  • Now Rest We All Content (a wedding song)
  • Psalm 150 (1973)
  • Rejoice in the Lord (1961)
  • Unseen Heralds

Instrumental Music

  • Cello Sonata in C
  • Contrasts (1953) for clarinet and piano
  • A Country Pastoral for organ (1957)
  • Danse Barbare for violin and cello
  • English Reel for viola and piano (1958)
  • English Pastoral for organ (1958)
  • Fantasy Suite for oboe and piano
  • Festival Suite for horn, piano and percussion (1967)
  • Laburnum Tree for clarinet and piano (1960)
  • Pipe Tunes for clarinet and piano
  • Rhapsody for clarinet and piano (for Frederick Thurston)
  • Sonata for violin in C minor
  • Sonata for violin in B minor, The River
  • Sonata for violin in G minor (No 4?) (1947)
  • Song at Evening for viola and piano (1958)
  • Summer Rhapsody No 1 for viola and piano (first played in 1936)
  • Waving Grass for clarinet and piano (1960)
  • The Willow Tree (1948) for clarinet and piano

Orchestral Music

  • Clarinet Concerto
  • The Harp of Angus (1925), a tone poem for violin and orchestra
  • Piano Concerto (1939)

Operas

  • Second Chance, first performed in Bath in 1955
  • The Shadowy Waters (based on a play by William Butler Yeats)
  • The Spell (not finished)

Piano Music

  • The Croon of the Sea (1920)
  • Crossbow Castle (a suite of four pieces)
  • An English Idyll (1942)
  • Humoresque
  • Mountain Ash (1931)
  • Prelude and Toccata
  • The Red Flower
  • Scherzo for three pianos
  • Sonata Saga in F minor (1924, revised 1929 and 1930)
  • Sonata No 1 in A minor, The Skerries (1936-7, revised 1945)
  • Sonata No 2 in F sharp minor (1950)
  • Sonatina
  • Two South Africa Impressions: 'Mimosa' and 'The Lonely Dove'
  • Spring Mood
  • Waltz Charming
  • The Windmill

Songs

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