Swan Hennessy facts for kids

Edward Swan Hennessy (born November 24, 1866 – died October 26, 1929) was a talented Irish-American composer and pianist. He spent a lot of his life living in Paris, France. Before World War I, he was known for his short, descriptive piano pieces that told stories through music.

Later, he joined a group of composers from Brittany, a region in France. This led him to become known as a "Celtic" composer, using his Irish background as inspiration. His music had a unique sound, different from other French or Irish music of his time. Even though his music was mostly forgotten after the 1950s, famous French music critics like Henri Collet and Émile Vuillermoz praised his work when he was alive. In some of his pieces, he even used jazz sounds and got ideas from funfairs and factory noises. This was quite modern and ahead of his time, similar to what the famous group of composers called "Les Six" would do later.

About Swan Hennessy's Life

Swan Hennessy was born in Rockford, Illinois, in the United States. His family was from Ireland, and he grew up in Chicago. His father, Michael David Hennessy, was born in Cork, Ireland. He used to be the president of the Chicago City Railway Company before becoming a lawyer. Swan Hennessy's mother, Sarah J. Swan, was the daughter of Joseph Rockwell Swan, a judge in Ohio and an important political figure.

The family moved to Chicago before 1870, where Swan Hennessy spent his childhood. While some sources say he studied in Oxford, there's no clear proof. However, he definitely studied music in Germany at the Stuttgart Conservatory from 1879 to 1886. He learned composition from an American teacher, Percy Goetschius, and piano from a German teacher, Edmund Alwens.

After finishing his studies, Hennessy lived in London from 1886 to 1892. He was married and had two children there, but he later divorced in 1893. For the next ten years, he traveled a lot, visiting France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Ireland. He often returned to Italy, which he used as a home base. Around 1903, he finally settled down in Paris. In 1909, he married Claire Przybyszewska, a Polish woman he met in Brussels. Her mother was related to the famous Symbolist writer Stanisław Przybyszewski. Their son, Patrice Hennessy, born in 1910, grew up to be a well-known writer and an expert on the French Revolution.

Even though he wasn't from Brittany, a region in France, Hennessy joined a group called the Association des Compositeurs Breton (Association of Breton Composers) before World War I. He continued to be friends with members of this group, like Paul Le Flem and Paul Ladmirault, throughout the 1920s. His connection with this group helped him gain recognition in France. In the early 1920s, his music was also performed in Ireland several times. This happened after his String Quartet No. 2, Op. 49, was first played at the World Congress of the Irish Race in Paris in January 1922. This quartet was dedicated to Terence MacSwiney, an Irish revolutionary who had passed away.

Swan Hennessy died in 1929 after a routine operation. The composer Georges Migot gave a speech at his funeral. Hennessy and his family are buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.

Swan Hennessy's Music Style

Before 1900, Swan Hennessy's music was greatly influenced by his traditional training and his teachers' love for the music of Robert Schumann. When he moved to Paris, he also admired Max Reger. Even though his later music showed influences from new styles, he always kept a strong connection to the German Romantic period.

From 1907 to 1913, Hennessy started writing in an Impressionist style. He created many piano pieces and songs that were descriptive and told stories. He found inspiration in the sounds around him, like nature, city traffic, and industrial noises. He was also good at writing funny and satirical pieces, similar to, but independent from, Satie. One critic at the time wrote that he was a "humourist of great verve whose humour derived from observation and invention, fantasy and psychology." Despite getting good reviews in French and German music newspapers, his music wasn't performed much at first.

This changed when he joined the Association des Compositeurs Bretons in 1912. He began to include elements from traditional Irish, Scottish, and Breton folk music in his compositions. Although World War I interrupted his work (he spent it in Switzerland), he really developed his "Celtic" style in the 1920s. Many of his pieces have titles like "celtique" (Celtic), "gaélique" (Gaelic), or "irlandais" (Irish). These pieces were inspired by traditional folk melodies and rhythms, but he rarely used actual folk tunes directly. In the 1920s, he wrote most of his chamber music, which includes pieces for small groups of instruments like duets, trios, and quartets. These works made him famous as a "Celtic" composer, so much so that his earlier piano music was almost forgotten. In a French obituary, he was called "the bard of Ireland" and was praised for saving "ancient Celtic melody."

Hennessy was quite critical of very modern music, especially the work of Arnold Schoenberg. He wrote many sarcastic and negative letters and comments in music newspapers. He believed that to solve what he saw as a "crisis" in music, composers should return to regional folk traditions and use them in their art music.

When Hennessy lived in Paris, his music was mainly published by E. Demets. From 1923, it was published by Max Eschig, who took over Demets' company. Other publishers included Augener in London and Schott in Mainz.

Selected Musical Works

For a complete list of his compositions, you can visit List of compositions by Swan Hennessy. The dates below are when the music was published.

Chamber Music (for small groups of instruments)

• Lieder an den Mond. Romantische Stücke, Op. 10, for violin, cello, and piano (1888)
• Sonate en style irlandais, Op. 14, for violin and piano (1904)
• Prémier Quatuor (Suite) [String Quartet No. 1], Op. 46 (1913)
• Deuxième Quatuor [String Quartet No. 2], Op. 49 (1920)
• Rapsodie celtique, Op. 50, for violin and piano (1915)
• Petit trio celtique, Op. 52, for violin, viola, and cello (1921)
• Trio, Op. 54, for two clarinets and bassoon (1921)
• Variations sur un thème de six notes, Op. 58, for flute, violin, viola, and cello (1924)
• Quatre Pièces celtiques, Op. 59, for cor anglais (a type of oboe), violin, viola, and cello (1925)
• Troisième Quatuor à cordes [String Quartet No. 3], Op. 61 (1926)
• Sonatine celtique, Op. 62, for viola and piano (1924)
• Rapsodie gaélique, Op. 63, for cello and piano (1925)
• Deux Morceaux, Op. 68, for alto saxophone and piano (1926)
• Trio, Op. 70, for flute, violin, and bassoon (1926)
• Quatre Morceaux, Op. 71, for alto saxophone or viola and piano (1929)
• Quatrième Quatuor à cordes [String Quartet No. 4], Op. 75 (1930)
• Deuxième Sonatine, Op. 80, for violin and piano (1929)
• Sonatine, Op. 81, for cello and piano (1929)

Piano Music

• Variations sur un thème original dans le style irlandais, Op. 12 (1902)
• Au bord de la forêt, Op. 21 (around 1907)
• Étude, Op. 25 (1907)
• Nouvelles feuilles d'album, Op. 27 (1908)
• Variations sur un air irlandais ancien, Op. 28 (1908)
• Croquis de femmes, Op. 33 (1911)
• Petite suite sur les notes Mi Do Mi Fa Si Mi, Op. 34 (1911)
• Fêtes. Deux Morceaux descriptifs, Op. 36 (1911)
• En passant ... (Études d'aprés nature), Op. 40 (1912)
• Valses caprices, Op. 41 (1912)
• Sonatine, Op. 43 (1912)
• Sentes et chemins (Nouvelles études d'après nature), Op. 44 (1912)
• Pièces celtiques, Op. 45 (1912)
• Croquis parisiens, Op. 47 (1913)
• Impressions humoristiques, Op. 48 (1913)
• Sonatine celtique, Op. 53 (1924)
• Épigrammes d'un solitaire, Op. 55 (1924)
• Trois Pièces exotiques, Op. 57 (1922)
• Étude de concert, Op. 60 (1924)
• Rapsodie irlandaise, Op. 67 (1929)
• Banlieues ... Six Petites pieces, Op. 69 (1929)
• À la manière de ..., 5 volumes (1927–1928)

Voice and Piano Music

• Lydia, Op. 23 (1908)
• Epiphanie, Op. 26 (1908)
• Deux Mélodies, Op. 30 (1908)
• Trois Chansons écossaises, Op. 31 (1907)
• Trois Chansons espagnoles, Op. 42bis (1921)
• Trois Mélodies, Op. 56 (1925–1932)
• Trois Mélodies sur des poésies d'André Delacour et de Leconte de Lisle, Op. 66 (1926)
• Trois Chansons celtiques, Op. 72 (1927)
• Deux Mélodies, Op. 73 (1928)
• Deux Mélodies, Op. 79 (1934)

Recordings of His Music

You can find recordings of Swan Hennessy's music on these albums:

• Quatre Pièces celtiques, Op. 59, played on cor anglais and organ by Manfred Hoth and Ulrich Leykam (K&M Records, CD).
• Trio, Op. 54 for two clarinets and bassoon, performed by Trio d'Ance di Bolzano (Rainbow RW 98107, CD, 1999).
• Quatre Pièces celtiques, Op. 59, arranged for cor anglais and string orchestra, played by Rachel Tolmie and Bourbaki Ensemble (Wirripang Wirr 018, CD, 2008).
• Trio, Op. 54 for two clarinets and bassoon, performed by Trio Pleyel (bremenradiohall records brh cd 1305, CD and downloads, 2013).
• Complete String Quartets 1–4, performed by RTÉ ConTempo Quartet (RTÉ lyric fm CD 159, CD, 2019). This includes String Quartet No. 1 (Suite), Op. 46; No. 2, Op. 49; No. 3, Op. 61; No. 4, Op. 75; Sérénade, Op. 65; and Petit trio celtique, Op. 52.
• Selected Works for Piano, performed by Moritz Ernst (Perfect Noise PN 2006, CD, 2020). This CD features Au bord de la forêt, Op. 21; Croquis de femmes, Op. 33; Fêtes, Op. 36; En passant ... (Études d'aprés nature), Op. 40; Valses caprices, Op. 41; Sonatine, Op. 43; Pièces celtiques, Op. 45; Croquis parisiens, Op. 47; Banlieues ..., Op. 69; and four pieces from À la manière de ...: Borodine, Chabrier, Debussy–Godard, Ravel.
• Viola and Piano Works 1, performed by Marcin Murawski (viola) and Anna Starzec-Makandasis (piano) (Acte Préalable AP 490, CD, 2020). This includes Berceuse, Op. 13; Au village, Op. 22; Valses caprices, Op. 41; Rapsodie celtique, Op. 50; Sonatine celtique, Op. 62; Deux Morceaux, Op. 68; and Pièce celtique, Op. 74.
• Viola and Piano Works 2, performed by Marcin Murawski (viola) and Hanna Holeksa (piano) (Acte Préalable AP 524, CD, 2021). This includes Sonate en style irlandais, Op. 14; Mazurka et Polonaise, Op. 17; Étude, Op. 25; Rapsodie gaélique, Op. 63; Quatre Morceaux, Op. 71; Deuxième Sonatine, Op. 80; Sonatine, Op. 81; and À la manière de Frédéric Chopin.