Amy Beach (1867-1944)

[brewski]

In 2007, GMGer Josh Lilly started a thread on "The Boston Six" (here), of which Amy Beach was one of the members. Josh got the ball rolling, but I think Beach deserves her own thread.

Thanks to the Bowdoin International Music Festival, tonight I was introduced to her Piano Quintet, Op. 67, which from casual research appears to be one of her most popular works — and for good reason. It's gorgeous. You can hear it at the end of tonight's performance, with a stellar roster of musicians, including Ayano Ninomiya and Janet Ying (violins), Rebecca Albers (viola), David Ying (cello) and Tao Lin (piano). I just heard Albers last week; she's the principal violist with the Minnesota Orchestra.

The rest of the concert, with a Beethoven Piano Trio and an entertaining work by Viet Cuong, is worth hearing, too.

-Bruce

[Symphonic Addict]

I really like her Piano Concerto. The Symphony is pretty good too, if mildly less inspired than the Concerto.

[DavidW]

I like her solo piano music, piano quintet and concerto.  Basically piano!  The Gaelic symphony didn't stick with me (not bad, but I like her stuff with piano).  I thought we had a thread on Amy Beach, but it looks like we just discussed her in other threads.

[Brian]

The Dallas Symphony is doing her piano concerto this fall...

[Karl Henning]

Love the Piano Trio and Piano Quintet. I think it possible I've listened to the Gaelic Symphony, but I wouldn't swear to it. I'm game to try the Piano Concerto.

[kyjo]

I agree that the sparkling and virtuosic Piano Concerto is one of her finest works. Ditto the Piano Quintet, which has such a ravishing slow movement that the outer movements rather suffer by comparison. The Gaelic Symphony, I find, improves with each movement. The first movement is rather generic and the scherzo is charming enough, but the slow movement is quite soulful (and not without gravitas) and the finale is quite dramatic and ultimately rather thrilling towards the end. Another work of hers worth mentioning is the substantial Theme and Variations for Flute and String Quartet, which has a section about 3/4 of the way through with a beautiful, extended cello solo.

[Karl Henning]

Cross-post. In ironic timing I watched this this morning, and Beach is one of a small fellowship of composers one of the plebs despises.

Not boring.

One of the plebs makes himself a jerk viz. Haydn but you expect that sort of sophomoric pronouncement in the survey to which he's responding.