Wednesday, April 22, 7 pm, the Library of Congress presents “Amy Beach: Path-Breaking American Musician,” a lecture by E. Douglas Bomberger, PhD.
Amy Beach was the earliest American female composer whose works are regularly heard today, on the radio, concerts and streaming platforms. Beach’s Mass in E-flat major and her Gaelic Symphony were premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1890’s, to acclaim by both critics and audiences. The Library holds the manuscript of both those orchestral works along with several others. Beach’s long and eminently successful career included a number of European tours, and performances of her piano concertos in which she was the soloist.
Prof. Bomberger is the editor of The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach, published in 2023 by Cambridge University Press.
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:
- Between composer’s desk and piano bench: Amy Beach’s life and works — E. Douglas Bomberger
- Amy Beach and the women’s club movement — Marian Wilson Kimber
- ‘A reality of glorious attainment’: Amy Beach’s Macdowell colony — Robin Rausch
- Amy Beach and her publishers — Bill F. Faucett
Part II. Profiles of the Music:
- Amy Beach’s keyboard music — Kirsten Johnson
- Songs of Amy Beach — Katherine Kelton
- ‘Worthy of serious attention’: the chamber music of Amy Beach — R. Larry Todd
- The power of song in Beach’s orchestral works — Douglas W. Shadle
- Choral music — Matthew Phelps
- Beach’s dramatic works — Nicole Powlison
Part III. Reception:
- Phoenix redivivus: Beach’s posthumous reception — E. Douglas Bomberger.
Celebrating the composer Amy Beach, 1867-1944
