Edith Mary Swepstone Born 4.1.1862 in Stepney, London Died 5.2 1942 Tonbridge, Kent
She was the daughter of a London Solicitor, William Henry Swepstone and his wife Mary Turner. She studied at The Guildhall School, London
For a period she lectured in music at The City of London School. She composed some of her chamber works for The South Place Sunday Concerts, London. For many years she resided in one of the grandest houses in Hackney, London *
Orchestral
Symphony in G minor 1902
'Moonrise on the Mountains', symphonic poem 1912
'Daramona' symphonic poem 1899
'A Vision' symphonic poem 1903
'The Wind in the Pines' symphonic poem 1909
'Mort d'Arthur' symphonic poem 1920
'Woods in April' Idyll for string orchestra 1914
'Les Tenebres' elegiac overture 1903
'The Four Ships' suite for orchestra 1927
'The Ice Maiden' suite for orchestra 1900
'The Horn of Roland' overture 1910
'Paolo and Francesca' prelude 1904
Minuet in C major for string orchestra
Tarantelle in A major for strings
'Mors Janua Vitae' funeral march 1906
'The Roll of Honour' march 1916
Chamber
Piano quintet in F minor 1896
Quintet for horn and strings in D major
Quintet for piano and wind in E flat major
Piano quartet in A minor 1920
String quartet in G minor 'Lyrical Cycle'
Piano trio in D minor 1915
Piano trio in G minor
Piano trio in A minor
Lament for violin and piano 1912 pub. by Stainer & Bell
Two pieces for cello and piano 1. Plaintive 2. Fantastic 1892 pub. by Augener & Co.
Requiem for cello and piano 1936 pub. by Oxford University Press
'Rustic Fete' for violin and piano 1912 pub. by Stainer & Bell
Piano
Minuet 1890 pub. by Schott & Co.
'The Spectral Hunt' 1892 pub. by Augener & Co.
Songs
'Autumn Leaves' two part song words by Edith Swepstone
'Bells across the snow' three part song for female voice and piano words by F R Havergal 1895 pub. by Augener & Co.
'Time Enough' words by Robert Browning
'Body and Soul' words by Robert Browning
'Break, Break, break' words by A L Tennyson 1908 pub. by Laudy
'Capria' words by K E Royds 1914 pub. by Laudy & Co.
'Golden Gorse' two part song words by H G Hurst 1909
'Is he sleeping?' words by E M Rutherford 1886 pub. by Boosey
'I worship thee yet' words by Heinrich Heine 1892 words by Augener & Co.
'Just you and I' words by M Nepean 1900 pub. by Edwin Ashdown Ltd.
'Keen Bows the Wind upon Clebrig's side' four part song words by W Black. 1892 pub. by Augener & Co.
'Laughing Song' two part song for female chorus and piano words by William Blake 1911
'Love flew in at the window' pub. by Laudy & Co.
'My Lady's Gown' 1877 pub. by Chappell
'The Birth of the Daffodils' two part song words by M Mitchell 1910
'The Call' two part song words by K E Royds 1910 pub. by Weekes & Co.
'The Quest' words by K E Royds 1914 pub. by Laudy
'Renunciation' 1914 words by K E Royds pub. by Laudy & Co.
'The Return of Prosperone' three part song words by K E Royds 1915 pub. by Weekes & Co.
'Rock-a-by-Lady' words by E Field 1897 pub. by Chappell
'Shadows of Parting' three part song words by K E Royds 1915 pub. by Weekes & Co.
'Songs for Children' words by Robert Louis Stephenson 1897 pub. by J. Curwen & Sons.
'The Crocuses' Lament' two part song words by Edith Swepstone
'Foreshadowings' voice and cello words by Edith Swepstone 1892 pub. by Augener & Co.
'Oh, sleep a little while, white Pearl' words by John Keats 1909 pub. by Stainer & Bell
'Daisy's Song' words by John Keats1909 pub. by Stainer & Bell
'Slumber sweetly, Baby mine' words by Edith Swepstone 1893 pub. by Augener & Co.
'A Song of Twilight' words by A R Aldrich 1897 pub. by Edwin Ashdown & Co.
'Song of the Winds' four part song 1897
'Sunbeams thro' her lattice peep' words by Edith Swepstone pub. by Edwin Ashdown Ltd.
'The Hill' words by K E Royds 1914 pub. by Weekes & Co.
'The Throstle Song' words by A L Tennyson 1896 pub. by Augener & Co.
'Under the Lattice' serenade with cello obligato words by Sir Noel Paton pub. by Metzler & Co.
Hymns
'O may I join the Choir Invisible' words by George Eliot
'Out from the Heart of Nature' words by Ralph Waldo Emerson
Cantatas
'Idylls of the Moon' words by Edith Swepstone 1892 pub. by Augener & Co.
'Ice Queen' for soloists, female voice chorus 1891 pub. by Augener & Co.
There are numerous solo pieces for piano, violin and viola
*10 King Edwards Road
Her siblings were;
Harry Albemarle Swepstone 1859-7.5.1907
Gertrude Swepstone1864-5.4.1942
twins: Clarence Swepstone1874-25.2.1917
and Maude Swepstone 1874-2.8.1940
I recently visited The Metropolitan Archives in London where the Guildhall School of Music archive is deposited. I wanted confirmation of Swepstone's attendance and any other information about her that they might have. I was very disconcerted to find that information about former students from over 100 years ago is not availabel to bona fide researchers. Some thing is very wrong. I did trawl through their concert programmes and there was no composition by her or any performance by her.
This is, indeed, deeply worrying. I don't suppose any reason was given for this lack of (or embargo on) the information.
No, I did get a senior member of staff to agree to do a quick look on my behalf but they were only gone for 10 minutes so it would not have been very thorough. I am not even sure which dates she might have been at the Guildhall.
more information (from Sadie, Julie Anne; Samuel, Rhian (1994). The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers (Digitized online by GoogleBooks))
Orchestral (years indicate when performed in Bournemouth)
Mors Janua Vitae, funeral march 1906
The Roll of Honour, march 1916
'Les Tenebres' elegiac overture 1903
Paolo and Francesca, prelude 1904
The Horn of Roland, overture 1910
The Ice Maiden, suite 1900
'The Four Ships' suite for orchestra 1927
Daramona, symphonic poem 1899
A Vision, symphonic poem 1903
The Wind in the Pines, symphonic poem 1909
Moonrise on the Mountains, symphonic poem 1912
'Woods in April' Idyll for string orchestra 1914
Morte d'Arthur, symphonic poem 1920
Symphony in g minor 1902 (this was completed and performed)
Minuet in C major for string orchestra
Tarantelle in A major for strings
Chamber
Two pieces for cello and piano 1. Plaintive 2. Fantastic 1892
Requiem for cello and piano
Piano Quartet in a minor
Piano Quintet in f minor (not e minor)
Quintet in Eb for piano and wind
Piano Trio in d minor
Piano Trio in g minor
Piano Trio in a minor
Quintet in D for horn and strings
String Quartet in g minor 'Lyrical Cycle'
Lament for violin and piano
The piano quintet was performed in St Martin's Town Hall (London?) by the Musical Artist's Society, around April 1896. (Athenaeum, May 2 '96, page 593, via Google Books.)
(Wait, what, 1896? She wrote it at _11_? Well, oki, she wrote Daramona in 1899...)
Oh, never mind. Excuse me.
Wikipedia has "fl.1885-1930". That is, her "floruit", flourishing, period, started in 1885. So no, she did not write the 2 pieces for cello and piano at age 7, either. Even Mozart didn't write that much at that age... one should start, in my opinion, thinking "this doesn't look quite right" when that starts to happen, and going back to sources :)
We have at present _no idea_ when she was born.
Please edit the subject header likewise? :).
(Gah.)
Duly edited.
Thanks, sorry I blew my top. (Long day, not that that's really any good excuse!!)
Thank you for the extra info. ES was involved with the South Place Sunday Concerts between about 1910 and 1927. The archives for these concerts are quite extensive, yet in her case there is no biographical material. She is a bit of a mystery for someone who wrote quite so extensively. Are there any pictures of her?
hrm. did published scores ever contain miniature portraits of the composer in those days, as books sometimes do? I doubt it but find it worth asking...
There were sometimes pictures on concert programmes. That is how I found those of Bluebell Klean.
With reference to the symphony, is it known when and where it was performed. I had no idea it was completed.
Quote from: eschiss1 on Wednesday 24 April 2013, 07:40
Thanks, sorry I blew my top. (Long day, not that that's really any good excuse!!)
You were quite right to want the details corrected. No problem at all.
Elson's 1903 Woman's work in music has (p.139) "Edith Swepstone has had some movements of an unfinished Symphony performed, also an overture, " Les Tenebres," at London in 1897."- I take 1897 to refer just to the overture, but who knows.
Zeitschrift der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, Volume 3, page 362-363, refer to Dan Godfrey's 1902-3 season at Bournemouth and the works he's produced so far with his orchestra up to this point, including Swepstone's symphony in G (which does not conclusively prove, to my mind, that what he produced was more than the "some movements" referred to by Elson. If this is all the evidence available then I take the case to be unproven, myself!)
Come on Eric, keep up :)
In the reference I cited above, when I noted that the symphony was performed, on p 447:
dates are of perfomances at Bournemouth
Sym., g., 1902
14 orchestral works, total of 24 times
There is only record of two having been performed elsewhere: a movement from the Symphony in g minor, first heard at Leyton in March 1887, and Les tenebres at Queen's Hall in February 1897.
Thanks!
I now have a copy of her birth certificate. Edith Mary Swepstone, Born 4.1.1862 in Stepney, London Her father was a solicitor. She died in Tonbridge, Kent in 1942
According to Ebel's Women Composers (1902):
Several movements from an unfinished Symphonie were performed at Leyton, March 10, 1887. An orchestral
overture "Les Tenebres" was played at Queens Hall, Feb. 9, 1897.
.... but that's about it. I wonder if her music was regarded as too old-fashioned, as tastes changed after WW1?
Has anyone reading this ever heard anything by Ms Swepstone?
I first heard about her as she had a number of works played at The South Place Sunday Concerts. As with so many women composers of her period she seems to have had some success during her lifetime and then almost sunk without trace.
A Quintet in D (for wind instruments) was performed by the Musical Artists' Society, according to The Musical Times (April 1, 1891, p. 232).
http://books.google.fr/books?id=3ugEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA232&dq=swepstone+quintet&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=fVEKUp66FOmfyQH-hICADQ&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBQ (http://books.google.fr/books?id=3ugEAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA232&dq=swepstone+quintet&hl=fr&sa=X&ei=fVEKUp66FOmfyQH-hICADQ&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBQ)
Here is a previously unknown Piano trio in C minor (it wasn't on Giles' list), first performed in 1895 according to the Musical Courier (Vol. XXX, No 20. May 18th, 1895, p. 11) :
https://books.google.ca/books?id=JRtMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA71&dq=%22edith+swepstone%22+%22quintet%22&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA6cvtw5HTAhVK5yYKHSY9DTs4ChDoAQgmMAM#v=onepage&q=%22edith%20swepstone%22%20%22quintet%22&f=false (https://books.google.ca/books?id=JRtMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA71&dq=%22edith+swepstone%22+%22quintet%22&hl=fr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA6cvtw5HTAhVK5yYKHSY9DTs4ChDoAQgmMAM#v=onepage&q=%22edith%20swepstone%22%20%22quintet%22&f=false)
And while we are here, why not some reviews of Swepstone's Piano quintet in F minor?
The Athenæum (No. 3575. May 2, 1896, p. 593):
"The seventy-seventh performance of the Musical Artists' Society came off in the St. Martin's Town Hall on Monday evening, the principal novelties being a Pianoforte Quintet in F minor by Miss Edith Swepstone, written apparently to some extent under the influence of Brahms [...]"
Musical News (No. 270, Vol. X. May 2, 1896, p. 412):
"Musical Artists' Society
An interesting concert of this association of English musicians was given at St. Martin's Hall on Monday last, and one was glad to see so good an attendance to hear pieces, for the most part by native writers, chiefly interpreted by English artists. The opening number was a MS. quintet in F minor, by Miss Edith Swepstone. The work is furnished with pleasant themes, but little invention is shown in their development, and there is a lack of power throughout its whole course. The instruments are written for in a scholarly way, only their respective parts are too much sectionised, rather than made conversational, and this gives the work a patchwork effect. The pianoforte part is thick, and is not written so freely as one would expect from a pianist. Still, the quintet as a whole is a creditable piece of work, and in all probability its author will do still better. The scherzo is the freshest and most inspiriting part of the piece. It was satisfactorily played by its composer, with Iessrs. K. Henkel, Mistowski, A. Wright, and B. Albert."
The Musical Times (No. 640, Vol. 37. June 1,1896, p. 406):
"We were glad to notice some improvement in the performances at the Musical Artists' Society's Concerts given at St. Martin's Town Hall on April 27 and the 11th ult. At the former we heard a Pianoforte Quintet in F minor by Miss Edith Swepstone, a well-written and effective work, well played by the composer, Messrs. Karl Henkel, Mistowski, Wright, and Albert."