A Brief Expression of Enthusiasm

Totally fascinated with the music of Amy Beach (1867–1944). I only recently discovered some of her compositions, which made me wonder why I didn’t take notice of this marvellous composer earlier. The first woman to have her symphonic works performed in the United States, Beach left an extensive and versatile catalogue of orchestral, chamber, and vocal music, and advanced to considerable acclaim as a performer of her own piano works in the US and Germany. While I am still in the process of exploring this remarkable late-Romantic oeuvre, I’d like to encourage everybody to have a look at her A minor Violin Sonata, Op. 34, the four-movement Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor, Op. 45, and the ›Gaelic‹ Symphony in E minor, Op. 32. A special preciosity among her solo piano works is the early Ballade in D-flat major, Op. 6, that I am looking forward to practising in the near future.