Amy M. (Mrs. H.H.A.) Beach, 1867-1944. Symphony (``Gaelic'') in E minor, Op. 32. Completed 1896, first performance October 30th, 1896, in Boston. Scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, triangle, tympani, and strings.
In an era where women received little respect, and American composers practically none, Amy Beach stood out as the only successful female American composer, a position which she held for over half a century. As with many of her male European predecessors, she displayed her musical talents early, harmonizing her mother's lullabies at the age of two, and notating bird songs on staff paper while still a child. One of her more intriguing traits was her ability to associate colors with music: she would often ask her mother to play the ``purple'' or the ``green'' song.
Beginning piano studies at six, Amy developed her abilities rapidly, and made her public debut at 16, performing music by Moscheles and Chopin (accompanied by an unnamed ``grand orchestra,'' according to the program). This and subsequent performances received consistently good notices, though reviewers of the time were often unable to avoid disparaging comments about her sex. She seemed destined for an illustrious musical career when at 18 she married Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, a prominent physician and society man 25 years her senior.
The marriage caused some to suggest that the doctor would not allow his wife's music-making to continue (speculation which has misled even some modern writers), but such was not the case. Indeed, Dr. Beach encouraged his wife's talents, to the extent of having a superb studio built in their home for her use in practicing and composing. The new Mrs. Beach immediately began work on a large-scale Mass in E flat, which was followed a few years later by the present work. In short order, she was achieving great success with her compositions. (It is worth noting that, although she received excellent training at the keyboard, Amy Cheney's formal education in composition was minimal, probably because it was not considered an appropriate subject for a young woman. It is a mark of her talent that she was able to overcome the omission to produce a large catalog of outstanding works.)
In 1893, Antonin Dvorák, who was visiting the United States at the time, suggested that American composers should follow the example he set in his own New World Symphony by adopting ``native'' themes. To him, this meant the African-American music found on the plantations he had visited. But Beach responded with a letter to the Boston Herald:
We of the North should be far more likely to be influenced by old English, Scotch or Irish songs, inherited with our literature from our ancestors.
True to her words, when the time came to compose a symphony, Beach used primarily Irish themes, subtitling the work ``Gaelic'' to indicate its heritage. It was immediately well-received, and has since been performed many times not only in America, but throughout the world. Opening with an infectiously bouncy melody and continuing with a haunting third-movement duet for violin and cello, it finishes in a properly rousing finale worthy of the best male composers, the best Europeans, and simply the best that humanity has to offer.
© 1995, Geoff Kuenning
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