559191 bk BEACH EU 25/05/2004 04:34pm Page 16 To her whose voice and loving hands fl Though I take the wings of morning, Op. 152 Can soothe our heart’s unrest, (1941) MERICAN LASSICS We bring these flowers, fragrant, fair, Though I take the wings of morning A C Our life her love hath blest! To the utmost sea, MAY FLOWERS Lyrics by Ana Mulford Addison Moody Yet my soul hath no sojourning Music by Amy Beach g1933 A.P. SCHMIDT CO. To outdistance Thee. Copyright Renewed and Assigned to SUMMY-BIRCHARD AMY BEACH MUSIC, a division of SUMMY-BIRCHARD INC. Though I climb to highest heaven, All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission of Warner Bros. ’Tis Thy dwelling high; Publications U.S. Inc. Though to death’s dark chamber given, Thou art standing by. fi I sought the Lord, Op. 142 (1937) Songs I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew If I say, the darkness hides me, He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me; Turns my night to day; It was not I that found, O Saviour true; For with Thee no dark can find me, No, I was found of Thee. Shadows must away! The Year’s at the Spring Thou didst reach forth Thy hand and mine enfold; Even so, Thy hand shall lead me, I Sought the Lord I walked and sank not on the stormy sea; Flee Thee as I will; ’Twas not so much that I on Thee took hold, And Thy strong right arm shall hold me: As Thou, dear Lord, on me. Bid me, then, be still! Hush, Baby Dear I find, I walk, I love, but o, the whole (Robert Nelson Spenser) Of love is but my answer, Lord, to Thee, For Thou wert long in union with my soul, In the Twilight Always, Thou lovedst me. (anonymous) The Candy Lion Also Available 8.559136 Dreamer: Ariette 8.559139 A Portrait of Langston Hughes AMY BEACH: Songs by Still, Price, Weill and Others Juni “Gaelic” Symphony Piano Concerto William Warfield, reader Darryl Taylor, tenor Alan Feinberg, piano Maria Corley, piano Nashville Symphony Katherine Kelton, Orchestra 8.559084 Kenneth Schermerhorn, NED ROREM: Mezzo-Soprano conductor Selected Songs Carole Farley, soprano Catherine Bringerud, Ned Rorem, piano Piano 8.559191 16 559191 bk BEACH EU 25/05/2004 04:33pm Page 2 Amy Beach (1867-1944): Songs For ev’ry day he seems to be Were looking into the darkness, More shapeless and more slim. To see some form arise. Born Amy Marcy Cheney in Henniker, New composers such as Charles Ives. In contrast to other Hampshire, Beach was one of America’s most prolific American composers of the time, Beach achieved And first, there’s no tail any more, And a woman’s waving shadow and successful composers. She was also one of the first recognition in both the United States and abroad. And next, he has no head, Is passing to and fro, women whose musical compositions were as highly Beach’s 117 art songs show skillful craftsmanship And then he’s just a candy Roar— Now rising to the ceiling, regarded as those produced by men. While she and profound understanding of text. She composed in a And might as well be dead. Now bowing and bending low. composed works in almost every genre, she was best late-Romantic idiom throughout her life, often (Abbie Farwell Brown) known during her lifetime for her well-crafted songs patterning her songs after works by European What tale do the roaring ocean, and short piano pieces, many of which were an composers. She also experimented with musical styles ⁄ A Thanksgiving Fable, Op. 75, No. 2 (1914) And the night wind bleak and wild, important part of the standard recital repertoire of the as diverse as Scottish folk-songs and African-American It was a hungry pussy-cat As they beat at the crazy casement, time. After beginning a concert career as a pianist at the spirituals. Her songs are of a very high technical and Upon Thanksgiving morn, Tell to that little child? age of sixteen, she temporarily ended her performing musical merit, intended to be sung by trained musicians. And she watched a thankful little mouse aspirations at eighteen when she married the Boston Many of them were dedicated to prominent singers, who That ate an ear of corn. And why do the roaring ocean surgeon Dr Henry Harris Aubrey Beach (1843-1910). performed them and used them in teaching. She And the night wind wild and bleak, Her married years were her most prolific period of believed that a good song is an inspired, creative, “If I ate that thankful little mouse, As they beat at the heart of the mother, compositional activity. musical response to a text, which incorporates both How thankful he should be, Drive the color from her cheek? Following the deaths of her husband and mother in intellect and emotion. The poetry that she set to music When he has made a meal himself (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow) 1910 and 1911, Beach sailed to Europe, where she reflected the dominant artistic current of the time, in To make a meal for me.” expanded her reputation as a performer and composer. which art was seen as an expression of the highest ‹ The Host, Op. 117, No. 2 (1925) She gave concerts throughout Germany, performing idealism. Her eclectic taste in poetry can be seen in the “Then, with his thanks for having fed, Any is free to happiness many of her instrumental works and introducing some wide range of authors whose texts she set. The pianist’s And his thanks for feeding me, Who has the pence to pay, of her songs to German audiences. rôle in Beach’s songs is as important as that of the With all his thankfulness inside, And many are feasted by happiness, Beach returned to the United States in 1914, making singer. The accompaniments are technically demanding. How thank-full I shall be!” Whom Grief would turn away. New York City her home. She spent each concert season Beach had absolute pitch and experienced synaesthesia performing and promoting her works throughout North (seeing colours when hearing musical pitches), factors Thus mused the hungry pussy-cat Oh! I walk as one apart this night, America. Beginning in 1921, she did most of her which contributed to her selection of keys for her songs. Upon Thanksgiving Day: And proud in my heart am I, composing in the summer as a Fellow at the MacDowell Even at the age of twelve Beach borrowed ideas But the little mouse had overheard, For it’s Grief who ran and clung to me Colony, an artists’ retreat in Peterborough, New from established composers and used them as models And declined (with thanks) to stay. And would not let me by. Hampshire. Her active membership at Saint for her own works. The first theme of the third (Oliver Herford) (Muna Lee) Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in New York City movement of Beethoven’s Pathétique Piano Sonata inspired her to compose sacred music. appears in The Rainy Day. ¤ In the Twilight, Op. 85 (1921) › May Flowers (A Song for Mother’s Day), Op. 137 Highly intelligent, Beach incorporated her varied Ariette, dedicated to Dr Beach, was one her first The twilight is sad and cloudy, (1932) interests and experiences into her compositions. Largely songs to achieve popularity. The texts for When far from The wind blows wild and free, To our sweet mothers, well-beloved, self-taught in composition, she was the first American Her and Empress of Night come from a collection of And like the wings of seagulls We bring the flowers of May, woman musician to receive all of her training in the poems published by Dr Beach. Amy Beach later used Flash the white caps of the sea. For love’s bright wings fly o’er us all United States and to write in the larger forms. Her work the melody of Empress of Night, in her piano concerto. But in the fisherman’s cottage And glorify today. has always been evaluated by critics on the basis of its She incorporated Le Secret into another piano work, Les There shines a ruddier light, merit and her intellect, while her talent for composition rêves de Colombine. And a little face at the window A mother’s love naught can destroy, has consistently been acknowledged. She is a Ecstasy proved so popular that the poem was Peers out into the night. Strong to endure and save; transitional figure between the composers of the Second included in The Poetry Digest: Annual Anthology of When friendship fails and life grows hard, New England School, which includes Horatio Parker Verse for 1939. Beach earned enough from the royalties Close, close it is pressed to the window, Her tender touch we crave. and Edward MacDowell, and later American song of Ecstasy to buy a lot on Cape Cod for a summer home. As if those childish eyes 8.559191 2 15 8.559191 559191 bk BEACH EU 25/05/2004 04:33pm Page 14 weit über alle Meere, für jeden Segen, den du gabst, The poem for Within thy Heart is also by Beach. The A Prelude shares similarities with her other settings mich fände doch Dein Angesicht, pflückt’ eine Ros’ ich dir. poem, Sleep, Little Darling, originally appeared in of Dr Beach’s poems. The refrain of O Sweet Content, is so fern ich immer wäre; Harper’s Bazaar magazine. Beach’s vocal writing at its most melismatic.