Amy Beach – Symphony in E-minor, Op.32 “Gaelic”

Amy Beach (September 5, 1867 – December 27, 1944) was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her “Gaelic” Symphony – which you can listen to below in a performance of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra led by Neeme Järvi – premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, and was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman.

Acclaimed as a pianist as well, she was also one of the first U.S. composers to have her music be recognized in Europe. A whole lot of information is available at amybeach.org.

Credits:

Cover image by Jonathan Bowers