CHAPTER 8 | THE SECOND NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL 189
composer A ntonín Dvorˇák, who during a three-year stay in the United States
counseled American composers to tap the sources of folk music (see “Nationalism
and the Indian Suite” later in this chapter), Beach borrowed most of the melodies in
this work from elsewhere.
The symphony’s second movement (LG 8.1) unfolds in three-part ABA form,
slow-fast-slow, with a slow introduction and a brief coda. Easy to listen to the
fi rst time as well as the twenty-fi rst, the movement boasts a unity of theme that
compensates for the sharp change of mood and tempo that the middle sec-
tion introduces. The melody of the A section, played by the oboe, is foursquare
in phrase structure and predictable in form: statement, restatement, contrast,
return (aaba), with the second half repeated. Beach based this tune on “Goirtin
Ornadh” (The Little Field of Barley), a traditional Irish melody; with it she conveys
the feeling of a lyric slow movement. But out of this refl ective beginning grows a
new, faster section in the character of a scherzo (a fast-tempo instrumental move-
ment of light character, commonly an inner movement in a four-movement sym-
phony, as it is here). The B section’s melody, made up of rapid repeated notes, is
heard immediately as a varied form of the A section’s melody. Broken into frag-
ments, reharmonized, and repeated in different instrumental colors, this mel-
ody moves through many keys in a whirl of musical development. Longer lines
appear against it, but the rapid motion continues until interrupted by a silenc-
ing gesture. And now the lyric melody from the opening returns (A), with new
harmonic shadings and fresh instrumental timbres. The coda, reintroducing the
rapid repeated notes, brings the movement to a quick, whisper-like close.
Compared with most other American musicians, male or female, Beach lived
a privileged life, despite the prejudice she faced as a woman. Her mother nur-
tured her talent from the start, and she was given the leisure and opportunity
to develop her creative powers on her own. Once she married, a secure social
position allowed her to play and to present her music in prestigious situations.
Until 1911, when she made her fi rst trip to Europe, Beach’s musical career was
that of an extraordinary amateur, performing for select audiences, including
many friends and acquaintances. W hen she returned to the United States in 1914,
however, the niche she had once fi lled in Boston no longer existed. She began to
fashion a career that involved more public performances for the local musical
organizations that grew up in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
From choral societies to teachers’ associations and organists’ guilds, musical
organizations were a focal point for the energies and aspirations of both pro-
fessional and amateur musicians and music lovers who sought to raise musical
standards in the United States and spread the love of music throughout the gen-
eral population. Beethoven clubs, MacDowell clubs, even Beach clubs sponsored
meetings and concerts, published newsletters and magazines, and subsidized
educational programs. Beach’s fi rst concert after returning from Europe took
place at Boston’s MacDowell Club, where she presented two groups of songs
composed overseas. “An audience of 700 people rose en masse as she stepped
upon the platform,” a press account read, “and after an address, Mrs. Beach was
showered with fl owers.” Free from the need to make a living or to run a house-
hold, Beach was one of few Americans able to devote herself to writing and per-
forming music at a professional level without having to depend on the economic
outcome. Her music found an audience too, as is shown by the substantial roy-
alty checks she received in later years.K Amy Beach (1867–1944).LG 8.1172028_08_183-204_r3_ko.indd 189 23/01/13 10:24 AM