Songs by the Faure of American composers

Howard Swanson (1907-1978) was born in Atlanta, and moved to Cleveland with his family in 1916. Despite financial hardship, which forced the young Swanson to take employment, first with the railroad and then the US Postal Service, he continued to study piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 1938, he was awarded a fellowship, which allowed him to study composition with Nadia Boulanger, in Paris, until WWII forced him to return home. There, Swanson continued his struggle to become recognized as a composer and in 1950 achieved a breakthrough when Marian Anderson sang his setting of the Langston Hughes's poem, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers", at a Carnegie Hall recital, and Dimitri Mitropolis conducted the premiere of Swanson's 2nd Symphony (Short Symphony), with the N.Y. Philharmonic. He may be best known for his art songs, six of which are performed here by Helen Thigpen (sop.), accompanied by pianist, David Allen. These songs were released in 1953 on an American Recording Society album (ARS-10). (Biographical information taken from The New Georgia Encyclopedia.)

Seven Songs of Howard Swanson

0:00 - "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" (Langston Hughes)

4:10 - "Joy" (Ibid.)

5:02 - "Ghosts in Love" (Vachel Lindsay)

7:02 - "Night Song" (Langston Hughes)

9:26 - "Still Life" (Carl Sandburg)

10:56 - "Junk Man" (Ibid.)