Donald Ibrahím Swann (September 30, 1923–March 23, 1994) was a British composer, musician and entertainer. He is best known to the general public for his partnership of writing and performing comic songs with Michael Flanders (see Flanders and Swann). September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 92 days remaining. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... Michael Henry Flanders (March 1, 1922 - April 14, 1975) was a British actor, broadcaster, and writer and performer of comic songs. ... Flanders and Swann were British actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and linguist Donald Swann (1923–1994) who joined forces to write and perform comic songs in the two-man revues At The Drop Of A Hat and At The Drop Of Another Hat. ...

Donald Swann was born in Llanelli, Wales on September 30, 1923. His father was a Russian doctor, and his mother was a nurse from Transcaspia — they were refugees from the Russian Revolution. The family moved to London, where Swann attended Dulwich Preparatory School and Westminster School (where he first met Michael Flanders). Llanelli is a coastal town in Carmarthenshire, Wales, approximately 13 km (8 miles) from Swansea. ... National motto: Cymru am byth (Welsh: Wales for ever) Waless location within the UK Official languages English, Welsh Capital Cardiff Largest city Cardiff First Minister Rhodri Morgan Area  - Total Ranked 3rd UK 20,779 km² Population  - Total (2001)  - Density Ranked 3rd UK 2,903,085 140/km² NUTS 1... September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 92 days remaining. ... 1923 (MCMXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Transcaspia is an area of steppes and deserts (like Kara Kum) in Central Asia, between the Caspian Sea in the west, the Aral Sea in the north, the Amu Darya river in the north-east, and the Alborz and Hindu Kush mountains in the south. ... The Russian Revolution of 1917 was a political movement in Russia which reached its peak in 1917 with the overthrow of the Provisional Government that had replaced the Russian Czarist system, and led to the establishment of the Soviet Union, which lasted until its collapse in 1991. ... Dulwich is a generally prosperous settlement in the London Borough of Southwark and which has the post code London SE21. ... Motto: Dat Deus Incrementum The Royal College of St. ...

In 1941 Swann was awarded an exhibition to Christ Church, Oxford, to read modern languages. In 1942 he registered as a conscientious objector and served with the Friends' Ambulance Unit (a Quaker non-combatant unit) in Egypt, Palestine and Greece. After the war, Swann returned to Oxford to read Russian and Modern Greek. For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... College name Christ Church Named after Established 1546 Sister College Trinity College Dean The Very Revd Christopher Andrew Lewis JCR President William Dorsey Undergraduates 426 Graduates 154 Homepage Christ Church, called in Latin Ædes Christi (i. ... This article is about the year. ... A conscientious objector is an individual whose personal beliefs are incompatible with military service, perhaps with any role in the armed forces or just with a particular war. ... The Friends Ambulance Unit was a volunteer ambulance service, founded by British Quakers, and mostly staffed by conscientious objectors, that operated from 1914-1919, 1939-1946 and 1946-1959 in twenty-five countries around the world. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... Map of the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Greek (Greek Ελληνικά, IPA – Hellenic) is an Indo-European language with a documented history of 3,500 years. ...

A chance meeting with Flanders in 1948 let to the start of their professional partnership. They began writing songs and light opera, Swann writing the music and Flanders writing the words. Their songs were performed by artists such as Ian Wallace and Joyce Grenfell. They subsequently wrote two two-man revues, At The Drop Of A Hat and At The Drop Of Another Hat, which they performed all over the world until their partnership ended in 1967. 1948 (MCMXLVIII) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Joyce Grenfell, born February 10, 1910 - died November 30, 1979, was a British film and television actress, comedienne, and singer-songwriter. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the same time, Swann was maintaining a prolific musical output, writing the music for several operas and operettas, and setting J. R. R. Tolkien's poems from The Lord of the Rings to music in The Road Goes Ever On collection. After his partnership with Flanders ended, Swann continued to give solo concerts and to write for other singers. He also formed the Swann Singers and toured with them in the 1970s. J. R. R. Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street (from by H. Carpenter) John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (January 3, 1892 – September 2, 1973) is best known as the author of The Hobbit and its sequel The Lord of the Rings. ... Cover design for the three volumes of The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien Dust jacket of the 1968 UK edition The One Ring, as envisaged by Gerald Stiehler The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy saga by British author J. R. R. Tolkien, his magnum opus... The Road Goes Ever On is a walking song by J. R. R. Tolkien, fictionally written by Bilbo Baggins; verses of it are sung at various places in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. ... The 1970s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1970 and 1979. ...

In 1992 Donald Swann was diagnosed with cancer, and he died at Trinity Hospice in South London on March 23, 1994. It is estimated that he wrote or set to music nearly 2,000 songs during his career. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

Autobiography

• Donald Swann. Swann's Way : A life in Song. ISBN 0-85305-329-4

External links

• The Donald Swann Website