The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach

The first book in twenty-five years to survey the life and music of America's pioneering female composer of concert works.

E. Douglas Bomberger (Edited by)

9781108845847, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 November 2023

296 pages
25 x 17.5 x 2.2 cm, 0.67 kg

'What begins to emerge from this volume is a sense of a musician of true grit and principle, one who fought for what she wanted to achieve, and who advocated and agitated for women's participation in the arts. If [this Companion] can bring us just a bit closer to an understanding of this clearly remarkable artist, then it has done its job.' Amy Blier-Carruthers, Gramophone

Amy Beach was a pathbreaking composer and pianist who transcended the restrictions of nineteenth-century Boston to become America's most famous turn-of-the-century female composer and, later in her career, a prominent performing artist and promoter of music education. The Cambridge Companion to Amy Beach makes her life and music accessible to a new generation of listeners. It outlines her remarkable talent as a child prodigy, her marriage to a prominent physician twice her age, and her subsequent international acclaim as a composer and piano virtuoso. Analytical chapters examine the range of her musical output, from popular songs and piano pieces to chamber and symphonic works of great complexity. As well as introducing Beach's compelling music to those not yet familiar with her work, it provides new resources for scholars and students with in-depth information drawn from recently uncovered archival sources.

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.

Subject Areas: Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4]