Skip to main content

Amy Beach's 'Gaelic Symphony' (1896) is First American Symphony Composed by a Women

Courtesy of Eire Society of Boston

The very first symphony composed by an American woman was called Gaelic Symphony, Opus 32, a beautiful piece of music that evoked centuries of Ireland's ancient music.  It was written by pianist Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, who was born in Henniker, New Hampshire on September 5, 1867.

Gaelic Symphony premiered on October 30, 1896 at Boston Music Hall, and was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The musical composition instantly received critical acclaim, and was quickly sought by premier orchestras around the country, in Pittsburgh, Washington, Kansas City and Chicago.  

Though mainly of Yankee stock - a distant relative, John Marcy, emigrated from Limerick to New England in the 17th century - Beach said she was drawn to the simple beauty of Irish melodies, according to the late George E. Ryan of the Eire Society of Boston, who wrote about Beach in the 1992 Eire Society Bulletin.

Courtesy of Fans of Amy Beach

Amy herself wrote, "I can ascribe no particular reason for my choice of Gaelic subjects for the symphony other than having been attracted by some of the wonderful old tunes in a collection of Gaelic folk music....Their simple, rugged and unpretentious beauty led me to ...try to develop their ideas in symphonic form."

Later, Beach found a wealth of material at the Boston Public Library, which in 1902 had received a five-volume  collection of 1,000 Irish tunes collected by Dr. Henry Hudson in Dublin.  It was bequeathed to the BPL after Hudson's death.   Amy cited a number of tunes that inspired her in the collection, including Conchobhar ua Raghallaigh Clan, Goirtin Ornadh, Cushlamachree and Cia an Bealach.  

Beach's attraction to Irish music was part of a broad movement underway in Europe and the United States that combined ethnic folk music with classical structures, exemplified by Beach,  Hungarian composer Bela Bartok and others. Later in her career, Beach "returned to traditional fare often, shaping her music to stories and verse from the folklore of Eskimos, Native Americans and Balkan peoples as well as Scots and the Irish," according to Ryan. 

Beach died on December 27, 1944, having lived a full and fruitful life.  She is buried at Forest Hill Cemetery in Jamaica Plain.

When the now famous Edward Hatch Memorial Shell was being constructed on the Charles River Esplanade in the 1940s, there was a plan to add to the exterior the names of the world's leading composers. "Among them will be Debussy, Wagner, Brahms, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn, Straus and Tchaikovsky," according to The Boston Globe. 

Amy Beach's name was missing from the original list, but it was finally added to the Hatch Shell in 2000, thanks to the efforts of Dr. Liane Curtis, resident scholar of Women's Studies at Brandeis University.  She enlisted the support of  other fans of Mrs. Beach's music, including maestro Keith Lockhart of the Boston Pops Orchestra.

The music and memory of Amy Beach remain popular today, as evidenced by the Fans of Amy Beach Facebook page. 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Boston Celtics : The Story Behind Their Irish Green Theme

Shaquille O'Neill played for the Celtics in the 2010/11 season (This story was updated in March 2024) Many people wonder why the  Boston Celtics  wear shamrocks on their green uniforms and have a giant leprechaun smoking a cigar as their team logo. And why is the team mascot a guy named Lucky who looks like he stepped out of a box of Lucky Charms? According to the Boston Celtic’s official web site, the name came about in 1946 when owner Walter Brown started the team. He and his public relations guy, Howie McHugh, were throwing out potential nicknames, including the Whirlwinds, Unicorns and Olympics. It was Brown who had the epiphany, saying, “Wait, I’ve got it – the Celtics. The name has a great basketball tradition from the old Original Celtics in New York (1920s). And Boston is full of Irishman. We’ll put them in green uniforms and call them the Boston Celtics.” Red Auerbach , the now legendary coach of the early Celtics, then commissioned his brother Zang, a graphic des
Post a Comment
Read more

Boston Mayors of Irish Descent, 1885-2021

(Originally published in 2013, this post was updated in 2021) Here are the Mayors of Boston Claiming Irish Heritage:  Hugh O’Brien 1885–88 Patrick Collins 1902–05 John F. Fitzgerald 1906–07, 1910–13 James M. Curley 1914–17, 1922–25, 1930–33, 1946–49 Frederick W. Mansfield 1934–37 Maurice Tobin 1938–41, 1941-44 John Kerrigan 1945 John B. Hynes 1950–59 John Collins 1960–68 Kevin H. White 1968–83 Raymond L. Flynn 1984–93 Martin J. Walsh   2014- 2021 The lineage of Boston mayors with Irish ancestry dates back to 1885, when Irish immigrant Hugh O'Brien of County Cork assumed office and became the first Irish-born mayor elected in Boston, serving four one-year terms (1885-88).   O'Brien was followed by Irish-born Patrick Collins (1902-05), also of County Cork, who died in office in 1905. He was replaced by John F. Fitzgerald, who became the first American-born mayor of Irish descent, serving two terms.  A noteworthy mayor was James
Post a Comment
Read more

Boston's Airport Named for Edward L. Logan, South Boston Leader with Galway Roots

Statue of General Edward L. Logan Boston ’s Logan InternationalAirport was named for General Edward L. Logan (1875-1939), a first generation Irish-American, military leader, civic leader and municipal judge with family roots in Galway and South Boston .  Logan was the son of Lawrence Logan and Catherine O'Connor from Ballygar, County Galway, according to historian Michael J. Cummings .  The Logan family lived on East Broadway in South Boston.   Read a full profile of Edward L. Logan on IrishMassachusetts.com . The Logan statue is part of Boston's Irish Heritage Trail , a collection of public landmarks, memorials, buildings and statues that tell the story of the Boston Irish from the 1700s to the present.  Find year round information on Boston's Irish community at IrishBoston.org . 
1 comment
Read more