The name of Firmin Swinnen came to my attention when I was a teenage freshman at Drake University. It was then that I first heard Swinnen's virtuoso pedal cadenza (discussed in detail later in this article), played so brilliantly and seemingly with such ease by Frank B. Jordan, Dean of the university's College of Fine Arts. Even today, nearly a half-century later, that experience remains one of the most exciting moments of the countless organ recitals I have been privileged to hear.
In the first part of the 20th century, Firmin Swinnen (1885-1972) was generally considered to be one of the two most gifted concert organists who resided in America. The other was the great Lynnwood Farnam (1885-1930).
A capsule account of Swinnen's 29 years in his native Belgium (from 1885-1914) includes organ study with his father, and with Joseph Callerts and Arthur de Hovre at the Royal Conservatory in Antwerp; an appointment as organist at the Church of St. Walburgis in Antwerp; and marriage to Augusta Vantilt. In 1914, threatened by German bombing, the couple fled to England where, in less than a year, Swinnen played some 260 recitals from memory to benefit the war relief in Belgium.
In 1916, the Swinnens emigrated to the United States. Swinnen soon was hired to play at the Rialto, a famous Broadway motion picture theatre. The next year he moved to a new Broadway theatre, the Rivoli, where the combined musical efforts of Swinnen and the conductor of the 65-member orchestra, Frank Stewart Adams, also an accomplished organist, created quite a sensation.
In 1920, the Adams-Swinnen team produced a mighty musical event at the Rivoli: Adams arranged for organ and orchestra the first movement--Allegro vivace--of Charles-Marie Widor's Organ Symphony, Op. 42, No. 5, and Swinnen composed the aforementioned pedal cadenza to be inserted after measure 151, before the più lento section. During the week following the premiere, Adams and Swinnen gave 28 more performances of that arrangement to wildly enthusiastic crowds.
When Widor received a score of the Adams-Swinnen creation and heard all about the overwhelming success of the pedal cadenza, he was so delighted that, in appreciation, he gave Swinnen an autographed copy of the full score of his Sinfonia Sacra.
The late Elbert Smith, longtime professor at Iowa's Grinnell College and a pupil of Marcel Dupré, said Dupré told him that Widor eagerly promoted Swinnen's cadenza among his colleagues and students. Smith related Dupré's story concerning a celebration in Paris honoring Widor. The program featured some of Widor's compositions. When Dupré asked Widor what he would like to have him play, Widor promptly replied, "Oh, the 1st of the 5th, with Swinnen's cadenza, of course. And do tell the audience about the origin of it."
Swinnen became an American citizen in 1922. For the next 30 years he played the pedal cadenza (nicknamed "The Bumblebee Variation") in his many performances of Widor's original organ solo version of the Allegro vivace. He featured the "augmented version" to great acclaim at conventions of the National Association of Organists in New York City, Philadelphia and Rochester, NY. A story circulated that Palmer Christian, who shared the 1923 Rochester recital with Swinnen, Guy Harrison and Frank Stewart Adams, said to Adams, "I should have known better than to play on the same program with Firmin. I may as well have stayed home!"
After several years at the Rivoli Theatre, Swinnen accepted an appointment as organist at the new Aldine Theatre in Philadelphia. On the surface it sounded like a wonderful arrangement: Swinnen would play solo organ for four hours a day, six days a week, under what one writer called "a surprisingly juicy-salaried contract." Unfortunately, political intrigue ended that episode. However, something very positive occurred as a result of Swinnen's involvement at the Aldine: his playing came to the attention of industrialist Pierre du Pont.
In 1922, at a time when some of America's wealthiest families had impressive pipe organs in their homes, Swinnen first played at Longwood Gardens, the great estate of Mr. and Mrs. Pierre du Pont near Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. A 63-rank Aeolian organ had been installed there in 1921 and was enlarged to 79 ranks in 1923. After an increasing number of guest appearances over two-and-a-half years, Swinnen was named Resident Organist in June 1925.
In 1929-30, a new four-manual, 146-rank Aeolian, designed by Swinnen, replaced the 79-rank Aeolian which was given to the University of Delaware in Newark. Swinnen played the dedicatory recital of the 79-rank instrument in its new surroundings and gave over 60 recitals from memory at the university between 1930 and 1936. That instrument has since been removed.
Swinnen held sway at Longwood Gardens until his retirement in 1956. During his tenure there he gave 1,516 recitals from memory. His custom was not to repeat anything from his full-length, weekly recitals for four months unless there was a special request. He also presented quite a number of programs on the Wanamaker Organ in Philadelphia. On tour he played many memorized recitals which generally included improvisations. New Jersey State Senator Emerson Richards once said that Swinnen's jazz improvisation on J.S. Bach's Passacaglia in C minor was "the musical treat of a lifetime."
Throughout Swinnen's 31 years as Resident Organist at Longwood Gardens (1925-1956), he also was Organist and Choirmaster for the congregation of the du Pont family, Christ Church Christiana Hundred, an Episcopal parish in Greenville, Delaware. There he played a 1916 E.M. Skinner organ which was doubled in size in 1929 with additions made by the Aeolian Organ Company.
For Swinnen's farewell reception given by the church at Longwood Gardens, Molly Laird Downs wrote many clever lines to the tune of Yankee Doodle, from which the following verses and chorus are taken:
Old Orpheus led the music world
Way back in the beginnin'
But he was just a neophyte
Compared to Papa Swinnen.
Chorus (following each verse)
All the angels flap their wings
And sinners give up sinnin'
Whene'er they hear the dulcet tones
Produced by Papa Swinnen.
When concerts at the Church are due
He raises quite a ruction
To find the ladies of his choir
Involved in reproduction.
It may appear that it is beer
That gives him such a boost-a
But that is not the case at all
It's just his dear Augusta!
Tonight we're here to testify
There is no one above him--
We hope he never will forget
How very much we love him!
Upon Swinnen's retirement from Christ Church Christiana Hundred he was succeeded by his good friend, Clarence Snyder. The present Organist and Choirmaster, William Owen, presides over a 1991 Brombaugh organ.
Today's organists and organ enthusiasts can get an idea of Swinnen's hold on the public from an event that occurred in 1934. The late Edwin McArthur, one of the supreme vocal accompanists of his generation and also an organist, related a story about a recital given that year by Swinnen for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church at the Atlantic City Convention Hall. The organ there is a seven-manual, 449-rank Midmer-Losh which was designed by Senator Richards and installed between 1929 and 1932.
According to McArthur, upon Swinnen's entrance at the back of the hall and during his walk to the mammoth console in the front, the audience stood and cheered. Finally, when he arrived at the console and seated himself, the tumult subsided. Just as he was ready to begin playing (from memory, of course!), someone shouted, "Viva Swinnen!" Once again there was pandemonium. McArthur gleefully added, "And all of that, mind you, at a convention of Episcopalians. Just imagine how the Baptists or Methodists would have carried on!"
Reports of Swinnen's exceptional technical feats as an octogenarian (such as rapid chromatic scales in 3rds and 6ths up and down the pedalboard) circulated for years after his death in 1972. Edwin McArthur was among those privileged to hear Swinnen play in his later years. McArthur described him as "the greatest 'natural' concert organist I ever heard. He was equally successful in Classical, Broadway, Pop and Jazz. He seemed to have no limitations."
At Longwood Gardens, Swinnen was very fortunate to have at his disposal the most imposing "house organ" the world has ever known--an organ designed with his specific needs and desires in mind, described by him as "Just what I wanted." There is ample evidence that while his playing throughout his long career could be exciting to the point of hysteria, his music-making was simple and direct and his console deportment was exemplary. His patron and friend, Pierre du Pont, wrote: " . . . the organ at Longwood with Firmin Swinnen at the keys touches a chord within me that responds to no other hand. May it ever be so."
In thinking about the unique legacy of Firmin Swinnen, there are four recent CD recordings of particular interest: Longwood Sketches--Organ Music of Firmin Swinnen, DTR 9703CD, played by Peter Richard Conte; The Longwood Gardens Organ, Vol. I, DTR 8305CD, played by Thomas Murray; Hartz and Flowers, Pro Organo CD 7024, played by Justin Hartz; and Charles-Marie Widor--Sämtliche Symphonien Vol. 9, Motette CD 40241, which includes Frank Stewart Adams' Allegro vivace arrangement with Swinnen's cadenza, played by Ulrich Meldau, organ, and the Symphonisches Orchester Zürich, Daniel Schweizer, conductor.
In addition to the pedal cadenza, first published by The American Organist in 1920, Swinnen wrote eight organ solos, including his signature piece, "Chinoiserie" (which he also adapted for piano four hands, piano six hands, orchestra and military band), and his organ suite "Longwood Sketches "; 12 organ transcriptions; numerous "moods" for silent movies (such as Dramatic Agitatos, Misteriosos and Hurries); 17 songs for voice and piano; a mass for two voices; five anthems; three communion services; and six Amens.
A complete list of Swinnen's works (all currently out-of-print) and information about the Longwood organ are available from the Longwood Gardens website <www.longwoodgardens.org>. At the present time, Swinnen's early organ rolls and the tapes which he made later are being reviewed for possible release on compact discs.
