Dr. Jocelyn Swigger performing at Paul Recital Hall.(Photos courtesy of the Gettysburg College Office of Communications and Marketing)
By Ainsley Green, Staff Writer
On Sat. September 13, Dr. Jocelyn Swigger performed a piano recital featuring the 12 etudes and a handful of idylls of 19th-century composer, Agnes Tyrrell in Paul Recital Hall at 7 p.m. The hall was nearly filled with many members of the College and greater Gettysburg community. The audience present at the concert were likely the first audience in many, many years to hear the magical music of Tyrrell.
The recital began with two idylls, A884, entitled “Pastorale in E Major” and “Scherzo in a minor.” Swigger then provided a brief introduction to her work on the pieces and how she came across them. She reminded the audience early on to listen intently to the pieces and brainstorm nicknames to describe their character and what they evoke, for many classical pieces obtain a recognizable nickname that stands out amongst opus numbers.
Swigger first began her journey of uncovering Tyrrell’s music when she discovered her name in an anthology of women composers and noticed that her works were seen and even praised by Franz Liszt, a prominent piano rockstar of the period. When she looked on Google to find out more about this intriguing pairing of names, especially the unknown woman from the book, no information came up. Since then, Swigger has devoted research, practice, and determination to reviving Tyrrell’s music, which is speculated to have not been heard for generations.
“I am on a big mission to make her music heard because it totally deserves it,” said Swigger on an episode of the podcast The Ivory Attic hosted by professors Kurt Andresen and Ian Isherwood. “It’s complicated and passionate and often very funny. I’m completely obsessed, and I think this is going to be the project for the rest of my life.”
The next set of music in the recital was the “Concert Etudes Book One, Op. 48, A837,” which consisted of six pieces played consecutively. The etude is a piece that is written to develop a certain skill on an instrument that is technically difficult. From rapid octaves to hand crossing, Swigger displayed a different type of piano expertise on each piece, demonstrating the depth and emotion of Tyrrell’s etudes.
Dr. Jocelyn Swigger performing at Paul Recital Hall.(Photos courtesy of the Gettysburg College Office of Communications and Marketing)
An unexpected portion of the recital showcased another of Tyrrell’s artistic outlets by playing recorded readings of her poetry. The four poems were called “In Thale die Mühle (The Mill in the Valley),” “An den Mond (To the Moon),” “Sehnsucht (Longing),” and “Abschied (Farewell),” and were paired with scenic images projected onto the screen above the piano. Another idyll, “Idyll in G Major ‘Olivia’” followed the poems.
The final set of pieces performed by Swigger were “Concert Etudes Book Two, Op. 48, A837,” to finish off the evening with the complete, dazzling twelve etudes of Tyrrell. Another six etudes were performed before the concert closed with a final standalone piece, “Die Mühle (The Mill).” The audience gave a resounding applause as Swigger took her last bow of the evening and finished the first performance of many of the etudes and idylls.
Riley Dunbar ‘27 has worked with Swigger under a Kolbe fellowship on an important aspect of bringing Tyrrell’s work to life, which is typesetting handwritten manuscripts of the sheet music that Swigger was able to access from archives in Tyrrell’s home country of the Czech Republic. “Seeing how clearly and intricately she writes her music leads me to believe that she knew someone would be reading and performing her work one day,” said Dunbar about the experience of bringing Tyrrell’s music to life.
Agnes’ story gives me so much hope as a student, composer, and performer,” said Dunbar, who is a cinema & media studies and music double major. “ I’ve even noticed some of her techniques bleed into my own original compositions, and I truly think there is so much we can learn and appreciate from her and her story.”
For more information about the mission to bring Agnes Tyrrell’s music to life, visit Swigger’s blog at https://jocelynswigger.com/agnesblog to stay up to date on her work with this incredible music.
This article originally appeared on pages 4-5 of the October 2025 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
