The 1980 premiere of CRY put him firmly on the map; it was hailed as musical landmark. In the 1980s and 1990s, Swayne's work featured regularly in concert-halls & festivals both at home & abroad. The Proms put on Orlando’s music in 1982, CRY in 1983, Missa tiburtina in 1986, and Pentecost-music in 1990. In 1994 CRY received its second Proms outing, and in 1999 its long-planned sequel, HAVOC, had its Proms premiere. The Silent Land for cello and 40-part choir (1996) was premièred at the 1998 Spitalfields Festival by Raphael Wallfisch with Clare College Choir under Tim Brown. The Times called it 'a masterpiece' and described Swayne as 'the most accomplished choral composer in Britain'. HAVOC, the sequel to CRY, was commissioned by the BBC for the 1999 Proms. After its première by the BBC Singers and Endymion under Stephen Cleobury, The Independent declared: 'Swayne is a master'. In December 1997, violinist Malu Lin and Giles Swayne included Swayne’s Duo of 1975 and a new piece, Echo, in their Purcell Room recital. From 2000, Swayne taught composition at Cambridge and in London; from 2001 to 2014 he was Composer-in-residence at Clare College. In May 2002, Malu Lin & Giles Swayne were married. Since 2018, they have lived in Herefordshire. Their recital CD Relationships was issued by Resonus Records in 2021. In November 2024, The Kiss, Swayne’s 1967 song-cycle for tenor & piano on poems by Siegfried Sassoon, was performed at Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.