Anna Harris

Une Larme

Edith Swepstone

British composer Edith Swepstone was born in 1862 in London. Swepstone began studying composition at the Guildhall School of Music (GSM) and Drama in 1885 under Henry Charles Banister and Ebenezer Prout. In 1890 Swepstone was one of the first students to gain a certificate as an associate of the GSM. During her studies, several of her works received premieres, including various songs, a piano sonata and wind quartet. It’s uncertain when exactly Swepstone composed Une Larme, but newspaper records show that in 1912 it was performed by clarinettist Hilda Fiest. The piece was then published by Rudall, Carte & Co, a London based publisher, during the early 1900s.