# Einar Aaron Swan > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Einar_Aaron_Swan > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Einar_Aaron_Swan.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einar_Aaron_Swan > Source revision: 1351423141 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) American musician and composer (1903–1940) Einar Aaron Swan Einar A. Swan, contemporary news paper photo from the Worcester Telegram. Background information Born Einar (Eino) William Swan (1903-03-20)March 20, 1903 Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States Died August 8, 1940(1940-08-08) (aged 37) Greenwood Lake, New York, USA Genres Big band, swing, jazz Occupations Musician, songwriter Instruments Violin, clarinet, saxophone, piano Years active 1919-1940 Musical artist **Einar Aaron Swan** (born **Einar (Eino) William Swan**; March 20, 1903 – August 8, 1940) was an American musician, arranger and composer. He is known for writing songs including "[When Your Lover Has Gone](/source/When_Your_Lover_Has_Gone)" and "[In the Middle of a Dream](/source/In_the_Middle_of_a_Dream)". ## Early life Swan was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts to [Finnish](/source/Finnish_people) parents who had immigrated to the United States at the turn of the century; he was the second of nine children. His father was a keen amateur musician and before Einar Swan had entered his teens, he played violin, clarinet, saxophone and piano. At the age of 16 he was already playing in his own dance band, Swanie's Serenaders, and travelling around Massachusetts for three years. Swan's main instrument had been the violin but during this period he switched to alto saxophone.[1] ## Career Around 1924, the bandleader [Sam Lanin](/source/Sam_Lanin) invited Swan to join his orchestra at New York's famed [Roseland Ballroom](/source/Roseland_Ballroom), and Swan played with leading musicians such as cornettist [Red Nichols](/source/Red_Nichols), and members of [The Charleston Chasers](/source/The_Charleston_Chasers) [Vic Berton](/source/Vic_Berton) (drums) and [Joe Tarto](/source/Joe_Tarto) (tuba), with whom he soon started composing and arranging material for the orchestra. He also started arranging for the other resident band at the Roseland Ballroom, [Fletcher Henderson](/source/Fletcher_Henderson)'s orchestra.[1] After five months with Lanin, Swan joined [Vincent Lopez](/source/Vincent_Lopez)'s band in 1925 and went on tour to England. The band at that time also featured [Mike Mosiello](/source/Mike_Mosiello), [Xavier Cugat](/source/Xavier_Cugat) and his old bandmate Joe Tarto. Shortly thereafter, the [Bar Harbor Society Orchestra](/source/Bar_Harbor_Society_Orchestra) released "Trail of Dreams" credited to Swan and Raymond Klages.[1] Around 1930 Swan stopped working as a musician and concentrated on arrangements, starting to work for radio programmes and bandleaders such as [Eddie Cantor](/source/Eddie_Cantor) collaborator [Dave Rubinoff](/source/Dave_Rubinoff) and [Raymond Paige](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raymond_Paige&action=edit&redlink=1).[1] In 1931 he wrote "[When Your Lover Has Gone](/source/When_Your_Lover_Has_Gone)" which was featured in the [James Cagney](/source/James_Cagney) film *[Blonde Crazy](/source/Blonde_Crazy)* (1931). The song became a hit and has since been covered by many other performers such as [Lee Wiley](/source/Lee_Wiley), [Louis Armstrong](/source/Louis_Armstrong), [Ray Charles](/source/Ray_Charles), [Ethel Waters](/source/Ethel_Waters), [Billie Holiday](/source/Billie_Holiday), [Sarah Vaughan](/source/Sarah_Vaughan) and [Frank Sinatra](/source/Frank_Sinatra).[1] In 1939, he composed "[In the Middle of a Dream](/source/In_the_Middle_of_a_Dream)" with [Tommy Dorsey](/source/Tommy_Dorsey) and [Al Stillman](/source/Al_Stillman), which was recorded by [Glenn Miller](/source/Glenn_Miller) and [Red Norvo](/source/Red_Norvo). ## Personal life Swan married, on August 7, 1925, Ann "Billie" Kaufman in [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn). Kaufman's sister, Pauline, was married to lyricist [Albert Stillman](/source/Albert_Stillman), with whom Swan would collaborate on "[In the Middle of a Dream](/source/In_the_Middle_of_a_Dream)". At the same time, Swan converted to his wife's religion, [Judaism](/source/Judaism), and changed his middle name from William to Aaron. Swan's conversion exacerbated tensions with his father, who had already been unhappy about Swan abandoning classical music for jazz; his father never spoke to him again after the marriage.[1] Einar and Ann had two children, Pearl, born in 1926 (later known as Leslie von Roeder), and Donald, born in 1930.[1] He died of a [cerebral hemorrhage](/source/Cerebral_hemorrhage) in [Greenwood Lake, New York](/source/Greenwood_Lake%2C_New_York) in 1940 at the age of 37.[2] After Swan's death, Sinatra donated his royalties from "When Your Lover Has Gone" to Ann, Swan's widow.[1] ## Major compositions - "[White Ghost Shivers](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=White_Ghost_Shivers_(song)&action=edit&redlink=1)" - "[Trail of Dreams](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Trail_of_Dreams&action=edit&redlink=1)" (1926) - "[When Your Lover Has Gone](/source/When_Your_Lover_Has_Gone)" (1931) - "[In the Middle of a Dream](/source/In_the_Middle_of_a_Dream)" (24 May 1939); [Al Stillman](/source/Al_Stillman) (words); [Tommy Dorsey](/source/Tommy_Dorsey) and Einar Swan (music) ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-who_was_1-7) Sven Bjerstedt: [Who was Einar Swan? - A study in jazz age fame and oblivion](http://finlander.genealogia.fi/sfhswiki/bilder/Swan.pdf) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205543/http://finlander.genealogia.fi/sfhswiki/bilder/Swan.pdf) 2016-03-03 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (2006) (published online by SFHS, [The Swedish-Finn Historical Society](/source/The_Swedish-Finn_Historical_Society)) 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** "New York, State Death Index, 1880-1956", database, FamilySearch ([https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGP2-LNJ7](https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGP2-LNJ7) : 3 March 2022), Einar A Swan, 1940. Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States Italy Spain Sweden Finland Artists MusicBrainz Discography of American Historical Recordings Other SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Einar Aaron Swan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einar_Aaron_Swan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einar_Aaron_Swan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.