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Gulf Coast Chamber Orchestra: Gaelic Symphony
Gaelic Symphony, also known as Symphony in E Minor, Op. 32, was written by American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944). The symphony premiered October 30, 1896 in Boston and was the first symphony by an American woman composer to gain international attention. Beach composed the symphony in response to Dvorak’s exhortation to American composers to explore their musical and cultural roots. Dvorak suggested that even distinctly American sounds included elements of other cultures, such as Native American and African American. Beach, with her Irish immigrant background, drew inspiration from the “simple, rugged, and unpretentious beauty” of traditional Irish folk melodies, interwoven with one of her own art songs, Dark is the Night. An energetic first movement leads to a lyrical yet lively second movement with variations on a theme. For the third movement, Beach set two nostalgic Irish themes in counterpoint, heard simultaneously, before returning to the original opening theme for the final movement in much greater dramatic expression.
Also on the program is Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet Fantasy Overture and Reena Esmail’s Black Iris
Composers
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach(September 5, 1867–December 27, 1944) was an American composer and pianist. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Her “Gaelic” Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestrain 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. She was one of the first American composers to succeed without the benefit of European training, and one of the most respected and acclaimed American composers of her era.
Read More ››Reena Esmail
Indian-American composer Reena Esmail works between the worlds of Indian and Western classical music, and brings communities together through the creation of equitable musical spaces. Esmail is the Los Angeles Master Chorale’s 2020-2023 Swan Family Artist in Residence, and Seattle Symphony’s 2020-21 Composer-in-Residence.
Read More ››Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840, in Vyatka, Russia. His work was first publicly performed in 1865. In 1868, his First Symphony was well-received. In 1874, he established himself with Piano Concerto No.1 in B-flat Minor. Tchaikovsky resigned from the Moscow Conservatory in 1878, and spent the rest of his career composing yet more prolifically. He died in St. Petersburg on November 6, 1893.
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