Swan, Timothy

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Swan, Timothy

Swan, Timothy, American composer and tune-book compiler; b. Worcester, Mass., July 23, 1758; d. Northfield, Mass., July 23, 1842. His only musical training consisted of 3 weeks at a singing school, and while serving in the Continental Army he also learned to play the fife. From 1783 he lived in Suffield, Conn., and in 1807 moved to Northfield, Mass. His fuging tunes Bristol, Montague, and Rainbow and his hymn tune China were widely known. He publ. a vol. of secular duets asThe Songster’s Assistant (c. 1786) and the tunebook New England Harmony (1801).

Bibliography

G. Webb, I. S.: Yankee Tunesmith (diss., Univ. of III, 1972).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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