Swayne cited the eight percent acceptance rate of the fellowship to speak to the status of the award.
"[The NEH Fellowship] is one of the most prestigious awards for those who toil in the humanities," Swayne said. "To be awarded one is first to be recognized for doing critically important work for music [by your peers]. You then have to persuade nonspecialists to fund your project, so it has to appeal as well to those who don't understand music as a primary academic enterprise."
Swayne, who had unsuccessfully applied for the scholarship twice before, said he reviewed feedback on his past applications to improve his most recent application.
"If you want to double your success rate you must quadruple your failure rate," he said.
Composer William Schuman first caught Swayne's attention in what Swayne called "a moment of weakness" when he joined a CD club. Swayne ordered a compilation of Schuman's symphonies and began researching the composer.
"After the first sound [of the eighth symphony], I thought, 'This is incredible,'" Swayne said.
Swayne, however, was only able to find one biography on Schuman, published in 1954 -- 38 years before his death.
"I never thought I would find that nothing had been done," Swayne said. "A book about Schuman is long overdue."
Swayne said he intends to spend his year-long sabbatical delving into Schuman's papers at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. He also plans to review Schuman's music manuscripts at the Library of Congress and other archived materials at Juilliard.
According to Swayne, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts contains 220 boxes of Schuman materials, each containing roughly 750 -1000 pieces of paper. Swayne said he has already gone through 60 boxes.
"My goal is to go through each and every one," Swayne said. "Right now I am averaging a box a day, so going through his papers alone will keep me busy."
Although consumed with research, Swayne said he will miss the classroom.
"I like to talk. I like to teach," Swayne said. "So, that is a major drawback, but I am still very excited."
Music Department Chair Ted Levin said that Swayne's fellowship carries its prestige to the department and the College.
"I feel delight for him," Levin said. "As for the department, when someone receives a fellowship, it means they have to be replaced. So, for the students, it means someone has to be found who can do as good a job as Professor Swayne, and that is not an easy task."
Swayne is not the first professor in the department to receive the NEH fellowship. Levin has been honored twice and senior lecturer Jody Diamond received one last year, while Professor Larry Polansky has been honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship.
