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Fine and Dandy

Yale University Press

Contents

Foreword by Allen Forte.....................................ixPreface.....................................................xi1 Prelude...................................................12 Professional and Personal Choices.........................213 Highbrow/Lowbrow in New York City.........................394 Fine and Dandy............................................645 Stagestruck: The Ballet to Radio City.....................876 Gershwin Obsession........................................1087 New Frontiers.............................................1248 She'll Have Manhattan.....................................1559 Challenges................................................17010 The Show Won't Fold in Philadelphia......................18411 Keep on Keepin' On.......................................20712 Finale...................................................224Chronology..................................................239Musical Works by Kay Swift..................................243Notes.......................................................251Selected Bibliography.......................................279Index.......................................................285Credits.....................................................293Illustrations follow p......................................154

Chapter One

April 27, 1897. A quiet moment in the late afternoon gives me an opportunity to open this book after a long interval. I had not realized it was so long and now I have an important and joyful record to make, no less than the birth of our first grandchild, a dear little girl to be named Katharine Faulkner, after one of Nell's sisters. It was born on the nineteenth of April (Easter Monday) and is a large fine child, with good features and called by others as well as its partial Grandma a lovely baby.... Nell is getting along well and Sam is both proud and happy and we are all deeply thankful.-Gertrude Horton Dorr Swift

The entry in the diary of Gertrude Horton Dorr Swift announces the birth of her first grandchild to her son, Samuel, and his wife, Ellen Faulkner Swift, with the pride, reverence, and formality typical of a late Victorian woman of culture. For more than seventy years Gertrude Swift kept a diary, and it reveals her to be an educated woman who loved music and was devoted to church and family. Through her journal we glimpse the culture, behavior, and family relationships that shaped young Katharine Swift, nurtured her musical talents, and encouraged her development as a pianist and composer. That Katharine would study music is not remarkable. That she would pursue composition as a profession in a time when few women did is a testament to her musical abilities, her family's support, and her personal strength.

The Swift family originated in the British Isles but had lived in America for several generations. Samuel's great-grandfather Joseph Swift was born in Bristol, England, in 1731. He immigrated to the United States, bringing his Anglican traditions to the New World, and married Margaret McCall in Philadelphia in 1759. Glasgow, Scotland, had been the McCall family's home. The ancestors of our diarist, Gertrude Horton Dorr, they had resided in the northeastern United States since the early 1700s, moving from Connecticut to New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware.

More than a century later, Katharine Swift's grandfather Joseph Swift was residing in Roseville, New Jersey. He had married Gertrude Horton Dorr on June 18, 1868, in Newark, New Jersey, and was employed by the family business, Swift and Courtney, which manufactured safety matches (later the Diamond Match Company). Gertrude wrote with admiration that Joe was highly respected by all who knew him and that he had been president of the Athletic Club, a testament to his civic involvement. They began their family immediately but lost their first two children in infancy. The first baby to thrive was Katharine's father, Samuel Swift, who was born January 19, 1873. The Swifts would eventually bring twelve children into the world, though only six lived to adulthood. Samuel was raised with his five sisters, Frances (Fanny), Mary, Elizabeth (Elsie), Eleanor, and Gertrude.

Music was an important component in the children's lives, as it was in the homes of many cultured families. Mother Gertrude had an organ and a Steinway piano in her home. She not only played both instruments but composed hymns, art songs, and parlor songs. All of the children took lessons in voice, piano, or violin, and the family often sang hymns before going to bed. Samuel studied piano as well as organ. His mother proudly reported on his musical progress in March 1886: "Sam is getting on very well, having a good clear touch, which with more practice would become brilliant as well as sympathetic. He has a great deal of musical feeling, and his voice, although scarcely settled yet has every promise of a fine baritone." All indications were that Samuel was a typical American youth, a source of both joy and consternation to his ambitious mother. Several months later she continued, "He has developed a beautiful taste for music and begins to make fine harmonies in extemporising, but does not practice sufficiently to improve as he ought in execution." Despite her concern for his diligence, his mother was extremely proud of her only son: "a great blessing to us, being thoroughly reliable, gentle, earnest, and conscientious, attentive to his religious duties and very creditable in his conduct at school and standing high in his classes. Joe and he play games together.... With me, there is the great bond of music.... He is still my pupil." She must have been pleased that he persevered with his music study, evidently improving his practice habits-as a young man he served as organist for various churches and taught Sunday school.

In 1889 Joseph retired and moved his family to Wilmington, Delaware, to be near his brother, William, who had also been with Swift and Courtney. Gertrude's parents, Horatio and Adeline Van Nostrand Dorr, resided in Wilmington as well, so the family members were near one another. The same year, Samuel enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania, where he concentrated on musical activities. He joined the University Glee Club, studied voice and harmony at the Philadelphia Musical Academy, took organ lessons from David Wood in Philadelphia, and was organist at Calvary Church and Christ Church. He earned his bachelor of science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1894.

After graduation, Samuel sailed to Europe for several months with the Reverend H. Ashton Henry, rector at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wilmington, where Samuel then substituted as organist. On the return voyage he met a young English woman, Ellen Mary Faulkner, and became infatuated with her. Once home, Samuel returned to his position as organist in Wilmington. Ellen went to live with her sister, Frances Faulkner, a schoolteacher in Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter, Gertrude's brother, Robert Dorr, publisher of the evening newspaper the New York Mail and Express, offered Samuel a job as music critic, a position that would offer him more opportunities in his chosen field and a chance to live in New York City. He accepted with enthusiasm.

Ellen Faulkner had been born and raised in Leicestershire, England. Two years older than Sam, she had a great appreciation for...