Howard Swanson papers

Collection

Identifier: 358

Staff Only

Content Description

The papers primarily document the life of Howard Swanson and his contribution to classical music history. The papers are of interest for studying African American composers and more specifically Black scholars of operatic and classical music. Formats in the collection include correspondence, financial records, memorabilia and programs of Swanson’s performances. The bulk of the collection consists of sheet music manuscripts, including several unpublished works. Additionally, the papers contain programs, photographs, newspaper and magazine articles about Swanson’s performances. Programs are dated from the 1960s to the 1970s. His financial records reflect his professional and personal affairs.

Swanson maintained a rich correspondence with notable composers, musicians, singers, and music executives over the course of his career including William Grant Still, Elwood Peterson, Raymond Jackson, Ellis Marsalis, and Hale Smith. Correspondence also consists of personal and professional letters written by Swanson concerning the topics of publishing, royalties, media, programs and performances. Other letters are regarding financial records, including cancelled checks, bills, and IRS returns.

A particularly rich portion of the Howard Swanson papers include his extensive sheet music manuscripts documenting his career as a composer and song writer. These scores were heavily influenced by Harlem Renaissance poets and performers. In addition, photographs capture a snapshot of Swanson’s past and represents his musical career with colleagues, family and friends, documenting his local and international travels from New York to Paris, France. Audiovisual recordings regarding Swanson’s performances are also incorporated into the papers.

Dates

1933-1980, undated

Creator

Swanson, Howard, 1907-1978 (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Howard Swanson (1907-1978), modern classical composer, who won the New York Critics Circle Citation in 1952.

Renowned for his songs based on the poetry of Langston Hughes and Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Swanson was born in Atlanta on August 18, 1907 to Mamie Thomas and Howard Swanson, Sr. As a child, Swanson became highly involved in his church community; possessing a beautiful soprano voice, he sang duets with his mother at their church. He lived on his father’s farm outside Atlanta during the summers.

During the first wave of the Great Migration, the Swanson family decided to seek social and economic opportunities by moving north to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1916. Here, Swanson began to study piano, and ultimately graduated from Cleveland’s Glenville High School in 1925, the same year his father died. The death of Swanson’s father created financial hardship for the family and inevitably forced Howard to assist his mother and siblings. To support the family, Swanson worked for his father’s former employer, New York Central Railroad. He also worked for over ten years at the United States Postal Service.

Swanson didn’t settle for a life plagued by financial struggles. After many years of working to support his family, Swanson was determined to follow his musical passions of playing the piano and becoming a music composer. In 1930, Swanson attended the Cleveland Institute of Music and received his bachelor’s degree in music theory. He studied with composer Herbert Elwell.

Praised for the high quality of his songwriting, Swanson received many fellowships, awards and prizes for his work. Swanson traveled to Paris, France, on a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1939 and was taught by French composer Nadia Boulanger. He composed his first symphony in 1943, titled Short Symphony. Another highlight in Swanson’s career occurred on January 15, 1950. Opera singer Marian Anderson performed his 1942 setting of a Langston Hughes poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” at New York's Carnegie Hall. Several years later, in 1952, Swanson received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a grant from the National Academy of Arts and Letters. He also received a New York Critics Circle Citation that year.

Swanson’s life proved his passion for music was, in his own words, “the only thing I live for.” His lifestyle and musical values are well-documented within his papers and are detailed within his songs which incorporate jazz and blues influences, including a classical music interpretation of Langston Hughes’ poem, “Joy.” Swanson’s song writing preferences was for linear construction and lyrical works with subtle tonal centers, representing rhythm and structure which provided insight to music of the African American community.

Howard Swanson died on November 12, 1978 in New York City.