Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Symphony in E minor ‘Gaelic’, Op. 32
Maria Stuart, Scena and aria ‘Eilende Wolken, Segler der Lüfte’, Op. 18
Jephthah’s Daughter, concert aria, Op. 53 
Extase, concert aria, Op. 21/2 
Bal masqué, Op. 22 
Camille Schnoor (soprano), Angela Brower (mezzo-soprano)
Münchner Symphoniker/Joseph Bastian
rec. 2024, Bavaria Musikstudios, Munich
Solo Musica SM488 [79]

The key work on this album comprising of five works by Amy Beach is the ‘Gaelic’ Symphony in E minor, Op. 32, but the first recordings of the three concert arias are also valuable discoveries. 

The symphony was a product of her late twenties and premiered in 1896 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Emil Paur and hailed as the first large scale symphony written and published by an American female composer. It is written in the mainstream European Romantic and Late-Romantic style, and at times I hear similarities to the music of Schumann and Dvořák. It has been recorded a few times, notably by Karl Krueger (Bridge), Kenneth Schermerhorn (Naxos) and Neeme Järvi (Chandos).

In the winter of 1893, Dvořák’s famous Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’ was given a triumphant reception at its premiere by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. It showed how American composers might use African/American themes and Dvořák later mentioned Native American melodies, too, although in her ‘Gaelic’ Symphony Beach wasn’t markedly inspired by those themes. In her Boston home, she would have heard many traditional folk themes from the large number of Irish and other European immigrants and thus drew on melodies from the Irish, Scottish, Welsh and English tradition that she broadly termed as ‘Gaelic’, using both traditional music and her own take on it. 

The opening movement Allegro con fuoco quickly gathers into a storm. A sense of the power of the sea is never too far away. The lasting impression is one of powerful and unsettling music contrasted with calm, rather bucolic writing. Marked Alla siciliana – Allegro vivace – Andante the second movement has a prominent middle section (Allegro vivace), in the manner of a Scherzo, that sounds like the theme of an Irish folk melody presented in variation form. The slow third movement Lento con moto espressione is crammed withreflection and nostalgia; Beach was perhaps expressing the yearning immigrant Americans felt for their old countries.

The Finale is a joyous and passionate Allegro di molto containing writing that reminds me at times of the ‘adventure’ music Korngold was to write several decades later during the golden age of the silver screen in Hollywood. Under the assured guidance of its chief conductor and artistic director, the Münchner Symphoniker plays splendidly throughout in a convincing performance high on spirited ebullience mixed with aching longing.

Beach wrote a number of works for voice with both piano and orchestral accompaniment, sacred choral work and part-songs. The first of the three concert arias for soloist and orchestra ‘Maria Stuart’ was written in 1892, for contralto Mrs. Carl Alves, Beach based her Scena and Aria on Friedrich Schiller’s major German masterwork on the final days of the Scottish-born Queen of Scots, using Schiller’s impassioned text from Act 3, Scene 1 of the play. Claimed by some as the true heir to the English throne, Maria Stuart was pronounced guilty of plotting against her cousin Queen Elizabeth and held under house arrest at Fotheringhay Castle, awaiting her sentence of life in prison or death by execution. Its premiere was given by the Symphony Society of New York in 1892. Over a hundred and thirty years later, a first performance of a newly revised version of the orchestral score was given in 2023 by mezzo-soprano Tammy Hensrud with the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra under Beverly Everett, in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Beach provides a scena and aria of powerfully charged drama. Angela Brower born in Phoenix, Arizona sings the role of Maria Stuart. Allowed to exercise in the grounds of Fotheringay Castle, Maria converses with her nurse Hannah Kennedy. Although imprisoned she dreams of being content and free, able to sail back to France where she spent her formative years. Brower’s appealing lyric mezzo-soprano voice is displayed here with convincing assurance. There is much beauty here, but unsurprisingly the power she generates causes some slight unevenness. Adept at interpreting Maria Stuart suffering in adversity, Brower is emotionally very expressive. Notable in the score is what I would describe as a prominent and most welcome Scottish folk melody. 

In 1903 Beach wrote ‘La fille de Jephté’ (‘Jephthah’s Daughter’), a concert aria for soprano and orchestra, Op. 53. Beach was inspired to set the French text attributed to Charles-Louis Mollevaut after the Old Testament, Book of Judges. It is likely she intended the concert aria for her friend the soprano Marcella Craft. During 1911 Beach was in Europe and in 1914 as war was looming, she joined the exodus out of Europe. She became separated from her travel trunk in which she stored several music scores including ‘Jephthah’s Daughter’, which were thought lost until incredibly the trunk was found, stored and reunited with Beach in 1928/29. 

It is possible that a first performance of ‘Jephthah’s Daughter’ was not given until 1995 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston using a chamber version with soprano Ellen Chickering accompanied on piano by Virginia Eskin. In 2021, soprano Sarah Pelletier and the New England Philharmonic under Adam Kerry Boyles gave a performance of ‘Jephthah’s Daughter’ using Beach’s “workable” English translation, a possible world premiere of the orchestral version.

The concert aria concerns the general Jephthah, chosen to command the Israelite army in battle with the Ammonites. Before battle commences, Jephthah vows to God that in return for triumph over the Ammonites, he will sacrifice the first person he sees come out of his house. Jephthah is victorious and upon his return home the first to come out of his door is his only child, a daughter, and in the aria she asks Jephthah for time to reflect on her fate. 

I note that Nice-born, lyric soprano soloist Camille Schnoor has ‘Jephthah’s Daughter’ in her concert repertoire. She seems absorbed in the role, providing much lovely and expressive singing and she relishes the moments of emotional intensity. Her vibrato is in my opinion an effective tool that improves her voice, yet it may not suit others.  

Beach’s ‘Extase’ (Ecstasy) for soprano and orchestra is the second in the set of ‘Three Songs’ and a rather short work at under five minutes. It is a setting of a sonnet by Victor Hugo and concerns his vision of a solitary visit to the sea under the clear sky with twinkling stars, marvelling at the wonder of the natural world and his sense of God’s work. Once again, Schnoor gives a commendable performance, despite some minor patchiness. Her high notes are sung to striking effect, especially the closing words of the song C’est le Seigneur, le Seigneur Dieu! 

From 1893, ‘Bal masqué’ is an attractive salon piece in the manner of a stylish waltz that Beach arranged for orchestra. At just over five minutes’ duration, it is light and appealing, and does not outstay its welcome.

The sound quality here is very pleasing. The accompanying booklet contains a foreword by Joseph Bastian together with an essay by Susanne Wosnitzka, although some additional information would not have gone amiss. Sung texts with translations are essential for unfamiliar works such as these, yet disappointingly they are not provided.  

This is an album well worth hearing, containing some genuine finds, and it demonstrates to me that Beach is a composer of real note.

Michael Cookson

Buying this recording via a link below generates revenue for MWI, which helps the site remain free