Bird of Time

This is the first ever biography of (Edward) Swan Hennessy (1866–1929), an Irish-American composer who came to live in Paris from around 1903. Born in Rockford, Illinois, he grew up in Chicago, studied at the conservatory of music in Stuttgart, Germany, lived in various places across Europe, finally settling in the most vibrant musical metropolis of the time. Here he became influenced by the French Impressionists and tried to adapt his work to his musical environment as best as he could – or, perhaps, insofar as this was allowable. From 1912 – and especially after World War I – he realised his true mission: as a member of a group of Celticist Breton composers, he built upon his Irish heritage and henceforth wrote in a uniquely ‘Celtic’ style, fusing characteristics of Irish traditional music with the art music of his time. 

„Das ist eine ungewöhnliche Lebensgeschichte, und mit Axel Klein hat sich ihrer in langjähriger Kleinarbeit ein unermüdlicher Forschergeist angenommen, […] Klein kennt nicht nur seinen Hennessy, sondern bemüht sich auch, eine möglichst gründliche Darstellung der Umgebung, mithin insbesondere der Personen, die in Hennessys Leben eine Rolle spielten, zu liefern. […] Allein die Querverweise wären schon die Lektüre wert. […] Von den knapp 600 Seiten dieser grundlegenden Monographie entfallen 142 auf das eminent gründliche, systematisch gegliederte Register. Besser kann man ein solches Buch nicht gestalten.“ 

Christoph Schlüren, in nmz – neue musikzeitung, April 2020