It’s rare that a major piece of Beach scholarship comes along, one that enriches our understanding of the composer with a vast amount of insightful detail and perception.  The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach is a newly published volume that will be essential reading for a wide range of music lovers.

Edited by distinguished scholar E. Douglas Bomberger, here is the volume’s Table of Contents

Part I. Historical Context:

1. Between composer’s desk and piano bench: Amy Beach’s life and works — E. Douglas Bomberger
2. Amy Beach and the women’s club movement — Marian Wilson Kimber
3. ‘A reality of glorious attainment’: Amy Beach’s Macdowell colony — Robin Rausch
4. Amy Beach and her publishers — Bill F. Faucett

Part II. Profiles of the Music:

5. Amy Beach’s keyboard music — Kirsten Johnson
6. Songs of Amy Beach — Katherine Kelton
7. ‘Worthy of serious attention’: the chamber music of Amy Beach — R. Larry Todd
8. The power of song in Beach’s orchestral works — Douglas W. Shadle
9. Choral music — Matthew Phelps
10. Beach’s dramatic works — Nicole Powlison

Part III. Reception:

11. Phoenix redivivus: Beach’s posthumous reception — E. Douglas Bomberger.