Amy Beach (1867–1944)
Concert pianist; Composer
Works published by MoV
Lord, now lettest thou (Nunc dimittis) (SATB & optional organ, Gloria editorially reconstructed by Sarah MacDonald)
Lord, now lettest thou (Nunc dimittis) (SATB & optional organ, Gloria editorially reconstructed by Sarah MacDonald)
Lord, now lettest thou (Nunc dimittis), was published in 1891 by A P Schmidt without a Gloria: a Gloria has been composed sympathetically by Sarah MacDonald to enable this work to be included appropriately within the liturgy. Occasional minor rhythmic changes have been made and some underlay adjustments were required in order to accommodate the 1662 Book of Common Prayer translation of the words.
Amy Beach (1867–1944)
Amy Cheney was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, US. She displayed exceptional musical ability as a very young child and by the age of 18 she had already established a career as a concert pianist, appearing as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1885. Upon her marriage, her solo career was curtailed by the prevailing expectations that a married upper-class wife should not continue to engage in public performances, and so Amy Beach turned to composition - in which she had largely to be self-taught - earning significant praise (albeit gender-referenced) for her Mass in E flat, premièred by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, in 1892. Her Festival Jubilate, performed at the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893, is thought to be the earliest commissioned work by a US woman composer. This endorsement of her abilities was followed by similarly successful large-scale works including her Gaelic Symphony (1896). Outliving her husband by some 34 years, Beach revived her solo career after 1910, freed to tour Europe and to develop and extend her significant compositional output.
(c) MoV 2019