[1] Three years later she went to study composition with Charles Villiers Stanford and piano with Arthur Alexander at the Royal College of Music,[2] earning awards including the Sullivan Prize in 1921.
[3] In 1924 Swain began teaching at the Royal College and in 1936 she founded the British Music Movement to help promote the efforts of young composers and artists.
Swain married Arthur Alexander in 1921, and before World War II the couple toured South Africa and Australia, lecturing, broadcasting and performing recitals.
[1] Her first major success was The Harp of Aengus for violin and orchestra (after the Yeats poem), with soloist Achille Rivarde at Queen's Hall in January 1925.
In turn they were passed on to Swiss pianist Timon Altwegg in 2005, who has begun recording the piano works for Toccata Classics.