The page includes a couple panoramic pics, several close-up pics and the 18 panels created specifically for the exhibit by Dale Valena, UNH University Museum Curator! Check it out here!
The CD album, aptly entitled “Five American Women Composers,” includes Amy Beach’s Piano Quintet in F-sharp, her anthem, “Let This Mind Be in You” and two movements from her Mass in E-flat as well as music by Ruth Crawford Seeger, Katherine K. Davis, Susan McFarland (Mrs. E. A. Pankhurst) and Sister Martha Jane Anderson.
For more information about the specific music included in this album and how to purchase, please visit the AMRC page here.
Interest continues to build in the music of the exceptionally talented American pianist and composer, Amy Beach. Some exciting additions in the areas of music scholarship and publications concerning Amy Beach have been recently released just in time for her birthday!
(1) Published in May 2016 in the Journal of the Society for American Music (volume 10, issue 2, May 2016, pp. 149-180), musicologist Dr. Sarah Gerk’s article entitled “‘Common Joys, Sorrows, Adventures, and Struggles’: Transnational Encounters in Amy Beach’s ‘Gaelic’ Symphony” discusses Amy Beach’s conscious blending of multiple streams of influence – that of Irish folk tunes and American nationalistic styles at the end of the 19th century.
2) Our Amy Beach website (www.amybeach.org) sponsor, Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy (WPA), is launching a music publishing project: Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy Publications will help make more music accessible and available through carefully edited and affordable orchestral scores and parts. On the New Publications page of our website, www.wophil.org/publications/, we will be offering performance materials by Amy Beach as well as other female composers including Elfrida Andree, Marion Bauer, Rebecca Clarke and Vítězslava Kaprálová. AND in honor of Amy Beach’s birthday (September 5) and her 150th anniversary next year (2017), we are offering our new edition of her Symphony in E minor, Op. 32, “Gaelic” (1896), edited and engraved by our Director of Music Publications, Chris A. Trotman. In celebration of this exciting new venture, we are happy to make the score available (in PDF format) free of charge through September 2016. Additional WPA editions of Amy Beach’s music may be found on our Amy Beach website – www.amybeach.org/music/publications/. Please contact us at info@wophil.org if you would like a free PDF copy of the Gaelic Symphony score as well as if you would like more information or are interested in renting or purchasing any of the Amy Beach series selections!
MORE GOOD NEWS!! Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy (WPA) is happy to announce our 2016 Performance Grants, with awards of $500 to $1000 available to all U.S. orchestras. The Performance Grants promote the performance of unjustly neglected music by women and encourage orchestras to engage in adventurous and inclusive programming beyond the usual masterpieces. Recognizing that new or unusual repertoire often means additional costs for ensembles, WPA established our Performance Grants (in 2012) to help overcome this obstacle to performing works by women. All U.S. orchestras – community, professional, and youth – are eligible to receive funding. We suggest that applicants plan to perform more than one work by a woman, and include at least one historic work. The deadline is October 14, and the application form (and materials including repertoire ideas) is available on our website (http://www.wophil.org/grants/). Decisions will be announced November 14. The goal of these grants is to influence future programming; thus funding awarded in the Fall 2016 cycle must be utilized in the 2017 and/or 2018 calendar years. Additionally, beginning in 2017, we will be offering our Grants twice a year. The Spring 2017 grant cycle, intended to support performances occurring between June 1, 2017 and August 31, 2019, will begin receiving applications in January with applications due in late February. Decisions will be announced on March 31. We hope that this will accommodate the planning processes of more ensembles. APPLY TODAY!
In preparation of Amy Beach’s 149th birthday coming up on September 5, we’re making some improvements to our website and Facebook page!
Our interactive timeline includes various significant events from Amy Beach’s life, such as major performances, new compositions, premieres of new works, etc. Each slide includes a related photo to make the experience more engaging!
You may access our new timeline directly by clicking here.
Our new Amy Beach Discography is now available! Feel free to explore the many commercially available recordings that feature many works of Amy Beach!
The Discography list, which is directly based on the layout of the Works List, currently includes commercial CD recordings, but soon the list will include additional available formats (LP, CD, DVD, etc).
Check-out our new comprehensive Amy Beach Works List! The many diverse works by Amy Beach are arranged in tables, which are organized first by genre and then by ascending order of Opus number and/or year of composition/publication. The list also includes works she composed while still a child, as well as arrangements by Beach of works by others.
Check-out our new Media page, where you will find links to selected YouTube recordings of the music by Amy Beach! The list includes a variety of her music, such as works for voice, chorus, solo piano, chamber ensembles and even works for full orchestra!
Check-out our new list of Amy Beach music manuscript facsimiles now available through the Music – Music Manuscripts tab. These public domain manuscript scores are available via IMSLP or the International Music Score Library Project site. More information about these holograph manuscript scans and how to access them is located on the Music Manuscripts page!
More scanned Amy Beach manuscripts will be added soon, so check back for updates!
Check out our newly added comprehensive bibliography! The bibliographic list contains various sources such as articles, books, theses/dissertations, etc. concerning the life and work of Amy Beach.
Also, feel free to browse the new collection of Amy Beach photographs in our photo gallery!
We will continue our preparations for the 2017 sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary of the birth of America’s first successful, female composer, Amy Beach, with significant additions. This additional content concerning her incredible life and diverse compositional work will include the following:
(1) an in-depth biography of Amy Beach
(2) a timeline of significant life events and works of Beach
(3) an exhaustive works list including juvenile and other works
(4) a comprehensive bibliography
(5) an up-to-date discography
(6) a list of links to public domain Beach MSS uploaded to IMSLP
(7) an extensive photo gallery collection
Some public domain Beach MSS have already been uploaded to IMSLP, and more will be added soon!
As always, we would love to receive your feedback, so feel free to comment or email us with your questions and/or suggestions!
We are in the midst of planning a celebration to honor Amy Beach’s Sesquicentennial, which will take place in 2017. For more information, please feel free to sign-up for our email list and/or subscribe to the blog.
Our goal is to have her music played in many venues in 2017 to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the birth of a truly phenomenal composer, and a pioneer for women in classical music.
Stay tuned for updates about the celebration and for more information on Amy Beach’s amazing work.
Additionally, we would love to hear your feedback! Please feel free to comment on the site or email us directly about what you would like to see on this website. We also invite ideas on how to celebrate Amy Beach.