Classical Music Playlist, March 1, 2023
American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944) | photo by Rayhuff-Richter
CapRadio Classical and Jazz is celebrating women in music all month long by featuring a different classical composer every weekday. Today's spotlight is on Amy Beach.
- Born in New Hampshire in 1867, Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (“Amy Beach”) was a child prodigy of the piano, and, at age 17, made her debut as a soloist with the Boston Symphony.
- At 18 she married a Boston surgeon, Dr Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, who put restrictions on her performing career so she focused on composition.
- Following the death of her husband in 1910, she went to Europe to revive her career as a pianist. Her return to Boston four years later was triumphant, and she continued to tour and eventually compose some three hundred works, most published and performed.
- Beach was the only female composer in the “Boston Six,” a name given by later musicologists who viewed the group as pivotal in the development of an American classical idiom that stands apart from its European ancestors.
- Premiered in 1894, Amy Beach’s “Gaelic Symphony” was the first symphony composed and published by a female American composer. Using tunes from her family’s roots in Ireland and Scotland, the symphony helped define a "melting pot" sound of American music. The work was well received and considered as good as anything composed in America at the time; it made her famous in the US and Europe.
The "Gaelic Symphony" by Amy Beach is today's Midday Masterpiece.
6:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 11 in A major Opus 6/11 HWV 329
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
6:17 a.m.
Joseph Kraus
Violin Concerto in C major VB 151
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra; Uwe Grodd, conductor Takako Nishizaki, violin
6:49 a.m.
Amy Beach
Scottish Legend Opus 54/1
Alan Feinberg, piano
6:53 a.m.
Alfonso X "El Sabio"
Cantigas de Santa Maria THE CANTICLES OF HOLY MARY
Narciso Yepes, guitar
6:59 a.m.
Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso No. 2 in F major Opus 6
Musica Amphion; Pieter-Jan Belder, conductor
7:13 a.m.
Amy Beach
Theme and Variations (1916) Opus 80
Shanghai String Quartet Eugenia Zukerman, flute
7:36 a.m.
Arnold Bax
Morning Song (Maytime in Sussex)
London Philharmonic Orchestra; Bryden Thomson, conductor Margaret Fingerhut, piano
7:45 a.m.
Olafur Arnalds
Happiness Does not Wait
La Pieta Angele Dubeau, violin
7:49 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 5 in A major Opus 46
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
7:54 a.m.
John C. Williams
When The Birds Return
Voces8; Barnaby Smith, conductor Xuefei Yang, guitar
7:59 a.m.
Wilhelm Stenhammar
Excelsior! Opus 13
Royal Scottish Orchestra; Petter Sundkvist, conductor
8:15 a.m.
Joaquin Rodrigo
Concierto Andaluz for 4 guitars
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Los Romeros
8:40 a.m.
Amy Beach
Romance (1893) in D major Opus 23
Tasmin Little, violin; John Lenehan, piano
8:48 a.m.
John Williams
Summon the Heroes
Boston Pops Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
8:55 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Nocturne No. 2 in Eb major Opus 9/2
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Seong-Jin Cho, piano
9:01 a.m.
Gabriel Faure
Pavane Opus 50
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
9:08 a.m.
Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzon in the 12th tone
Chicago Symphony Brass; Mark Ridenour, conductor
9:13 a.m.
George Walker
String Quartet No. 1 "Lyric": II. Molto adagio
Catalyst Quartet
9:20 a.m.
Amy Beach
Piano Concerto in C# minor Opus 45
English Chamber Orchestra; Paul Goodwin, conductor Joanne Polk, piano
10:00 a.m.
Pietro Locatelli
Concerto Grosso No. 5 in D major Opus 1/5
Europa Galante; Fabio Biondi, conductor
10:08 a.m.
Elmer Bernstein
The Magnificent Seven
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor
10:15 a.m.
Franz Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 64 "Tempora mutantur" (The Times Change) in A major
Apollo Ensemble; John Hsu, conductor
10:37 a.m.
Amy Beach
Quartet for Strings Opus 89
Lark Quartet
10:53 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Nocturne No. 2 in Eb major Opus 9/2
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Seong-Jin Cho, piano
10:59 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 3: I. Allegro con brio in F major Opus 90
Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert von Karajan, conductor
11:10 a.m.
Edvard Grieg
Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 Opus 46
Malmo Symphony Orchestra; Bjarte Engeset, conductor
11:26 a.m.
Amy Beach
Piano Trio in A minor Opus 150
The Gold Coast Trio Rachel Vetter Huang, violin; Susan Lamb Cook, cello; Hao Huang, piano
11:41 a.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Vocalise Opus 34/14
Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra; Lawrence Foster, conductor
11:50 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade No. 10 for winds "Gran Partita": I. Largo - Allegro Molto in Bb major K 361 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor
12:00 p.m.
Lili Boulanger
One Spring Morning (D'un Matin de Printemps)
Neave Trio; Odaline de la Martinez, conductor Tasmin Little, violin; John Lenehan, piano
12:10 p.m.
George W. Chadwick
Symphonic Sketches: Jubilee
Cincinnati Pops; Erich Kunzel, conductor
12:19 p.m.
Arthur Foote
Piano Trio No. 2 in Bb major Opus 65
Neave Trio
12:52 p.m.
John Knowles Paine
Symphony No. 2 "In the Spring": II. Scherzo (May-Night Fantasy) in A major Opus 34
Ulster Orchestra; JoAnn Falletta, conductor
1:04 p.m.
Edward MacDowell
Piano Concerto No. 2: II. Presto Giocoso in D minor Opus 23
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Walter Hendl, conductor Van Cliburn, piano
1:09 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Flute Concerto No. 3 "The Goldfinch" (Il Gardellino) in D major Opus 10 RV 428
Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Nicholas McGegan, conductor Janet See, flute
1:20 p.m.
Amy Beach
A Hermit Thrush at Eve Opus 92
Alan Feinberg, piano
1:26 p.m.
Gang Chen; Zhanhao He
The Butterfly Lovers (Concerto for Violin)
Singapore Symphony Orchestra; Lan Shui, conductor Gil Shaham, violin; Jonathan Fox, gu ban; Nella Hunkins, cello; Ta Jin, flute; Gulia Mashurova, harp
1:55 p.m.
Nino Rota
The Godfather: Selections
Orchestra of La Scala, Milan; Riccardo Muti, conductor
2:03 p.m.
Frederic Chopin
"Military" Polonaise in A major Opus 40/1
Vladimir Ashkenazy, piano
2:09 p.m.
Amy Beach
Gaelic Symphony in E minor Opus 32
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
2:51 p.m.
Alessandro Scarlatti
Concerto Grosso No. 2 in C minor
Europa Galante; Fabio Biondi, conductor
3:01 p.m.
Francesco Tristano
Toccata
Arctic Philharmonic; Christian Kluxen, conductor Francesco Tristano, piano
3:09 p.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K 467 (FROM THE RUSSELL KLETZING COLLECTION)
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor Alfred Brendel, piano
3:36 p.m.
Amy Beach
Pastorale
Reykjavik Wind Quintet
3:41 p.m.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
English Folk Song Suite
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic; Vernon Handley, conductor
3:53 p.m.
William Byrd
Pavan and Galliard No. 1
Glenn Gould, piano
4:02 p.m.
Miklos Rozsa
Spellbound: Prelude & Love Theme
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic; Alexander Shelley, conductor Daniel Hope, violin
4:10 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 1 in Bb major Opus 3/1 HWV 312
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
4:20 p.m.
Valentin Silvestrov
MAIDAN 2014 - Cycle III: IV. Agnus Dei
Kyiv Chamber Choir; Mykola Hobdych, conductor
4:23 p.m.
Amy Beach
Ballade, Op. 6 Opus 6
Anna Shelest, piano
4:33 p.m.
Edward Elgar
Enigma Variations Opus 36
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Georg Solti, conductor
5:03 p.m.
Luigi Boccherini
Quintet for guitar and strings No. 4: III. Fandango in D major G 448
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (members of) Pepe Romero, guitar
5:12 p.m.
Enrique Soro
Danza Fantastica
Chile Symphony Orchestra; Jose Luis Dominguez, conductor
5:18 p.m.
Amy Beach
Piano Quintet in F# minor Opus 67
Lark Quartet Joanne Polk, piano
5:47 p.m.
Benjamin Britten
PETER GRIMES: Sea Interlude No. 4 "Storm" Opus 33a
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Paavo Jarvi, conductor
5:54 p.m.
Frederic Chopin
Prelude No. 15 "Raindrop" in Db major Opus 28
Martha Argerich, piano
6:00 p.m.
Franz Berwald
Symphony No. 2 "Sinfonie capricieuse" in D major
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor
6:28 p.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314
Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra; Willi Boskovsky, conductor
6:39 p.m.
Amy Beach
From Blackbird Hills
Lara Downes, piano
6:43 p.m.
R. Carlos Nakai
Passages: I. The Sun
R. Carlos Nakai, Native American flute; Luis Engelke, trumpet; William Eaton, harp guitar; Will Clipman, percussion
6:48 p.m.
Claude Debussy
Rhapsody for Saxophone and Orchestra
Lyon National Orchestra; Jun Markl, conductor Alexander Doisy, saxophone
7:00 p.m.
Zoltan Kodaly
Peacock Variations
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
7:29 p.m.
Edouard Lalo
Symphonie Espagnole in D minor Opus 21
London Symphony Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor Itzhak Perlman, violin