Alan Mauritz Swanson (born Chicago, Illinois October 29, 1941) is an American composer and academic who lives in the Netherlands.
He took his BA (1963) and MA (1965) at Indiana University and his PhD at the University of Chicago (1973). In between he studied at Stockholm University. As an academic, he taught at Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois), Brigham Young University (Provo, Utah), and the University of Groningen (the Netherlands), and came to specialize in the theatre and opera of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Recent books are Joshua Barnes: The Academie, ed. Alan Swanson (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2011) David Garrick and the Development of Eighteenth Century Comedy (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2013) Articles on Mozart in Mozart Studien 2005, 2008. Trained as a singer, many of his early compositions are for voice, but recent work has tended to be varied in form: string quartets, a viola concerto, a partita for piano, and others. In 2006, he was honored for his academic and community work by being appointed Officer in the Order of Oranje-Nassau.Trouw, October 31, 2006. University news report; http://www.rug.nl/news-and-events/news/archief2006/114_06 (Both in Dutch)
Partial works list
Vocal
Choral 1970: Prairie Conversation 2 voices [Alto, Baritone] 1970: Carol “Child, sleeping, do not wake” Trebles, solo instrumental 1971: Magnificat Choir SATB 1975: God is gone up SSA, Triangle 1980: Good Shepherd Variations for Choir, SSA 1980: Preliminary Look at Gerard Manley Hopkins’ “Pied Beauty” Baritone solo 1986 Agnus Dei/Lamb of God for Choir SATB 1988: Missa Aestiva SSAATTBBAlan Swanson, Missa Aestiva (Orleans, MA: Paraclete Press, 1992). 2011: Alleluia: Laudate Dominum SATB 2013/2014: Veni sancte spiritus/Komm heiliger Geist, Gott und Herr – SSATB 2015: Alleluia: De profundis Choir SSA 2016 Domine, vivifica me Choir SSA 2019: Expectans expectavi for SSA choir 2020: O sacrum convivium for SSA 2020: La primera leccion for SSA and piano 2021: In omni tempore: Alleluia (Any number of voices) 2022: O magnum mysterium for Choir (SSA) 2023: In omni tempore for various voices 2024: Our Father for unison congregation
Songs 2010: Song-Set No. 2: Fem sånger till dikter av Arthur Landfors – Low voice, Piano 2017: Sur un poète moderne – Low voice, Piano 2018: À Arthur Rimbaud – Low voice, Piano 2020: Song-Set No. 3 Passage. Trois chansons, Voice and Piano 2021: miniLieder divers short songs for Voice and Piano (mostly) 2022: Song-Set No. 4: Of lost remembrance, Middle-Voice and Piano 2024: Song-Set No. 5: Odi et amo, for Middle-Voice and Piano 2025: In Porter County, for medium voice and string quartet
Chamber
Solo 2002-2004: Three Aspects of Time for Organ 2011: Partita pour piano 2011/12: Algorithm. Percussion solo 2018: Résonances – Violoncello 2019: Air et Badinages – Piano 2019: Something understood – Clarinet 2019: Trouvé sur un pont inconnu -Flute solo 2019: Spirals for clarinet solo 2020: And Still, I Hear It for violin solo 2020: There Were Twelve for violin solo
Ensemble 1992–93: Essay for String Quartet 1993–2003: Second Essay for String Quartet 2006: Equale per quattro tromboni, "Academic Discussion in Groningen" 2012/2015: Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello 2015: Equale per quattro sassofoni, Tre frasi di Dante – SATBaritone Saxophones 2016: Away - A Trio for Violist, Dancer, and Chair 2016: Trio No. 2, for Piano, Violin, and Cello 2017: One, Two, Three – String Trio 2019: Words – High voice, Cello 2017-2020: A Third Essay for String Quartet 2021: In Porter County for String Quartet and Medium Voice 2021: A Fourth Essay for String Quartet 2021: Hexagons for Marimba, Xylophone, Tympani, and Conga Drums 2022: Seven Ways of Looking at a Line for String Trio 2025: A Fifth Essay for String Quartet 2025: Variations on an Old Tune for Xylophone and Marimba 2025 Required Listening for string quartet One movement i.m., John Cage
Orchestra 2013: Concerted Music for Viola and Strings. – Strings 2023: The Curve, for String orchestra 2023: And then, they erased the name, for Oboe d'amore and Strings
Libretti 2018: A Deep Black Sleep, Premiere Hobart Tasmania, February, 2023. Reviewed Australian Book Review, 28 February 2023 2021: The Box
References Recent books are Joshua Barnes: The Academie, ed. Alan Swanson (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2011) David Garrick and the Development of Eighteenth Century Comedy (Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 2013) Articles on Mozart in Mozart Studien 2005, 2008.
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