Amy Beach – Pianodao

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

Back in 2019 I reviewed an excellent edition of Türk’s Pieces for Beginners, which launched the new Schott Student Edition. It has been a while, but now Schott have launched a couple more titles in the series, the first of which features two collections by the popular American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944), her Children’s Album Op.36 and Children’s Carnival Op.25, together in one elegant volume.

Individual pieces from these collections may be known to readers from their appearance in graded collections and anthologies of music by women composers. How wonderful, though, to have complete versions brought together in this publication, which also includes in-depth background and teaching notes on each piece by editor (and well-known teacher) Melanie Spanswick.

Pianodao Music Library

Selected and Reviewed by Andrew Eales
Find out more: About Pianodao Reviews

American composer Amy Beach’s significant contribution to the solo piano repertoire is finally beginning to receive the recognition and popularity it rightly deserves.

Beach (1867-1944) remained a hugely committed and prolific composer, even though much of her output received little attention in the first half of her career.

Her music is avowedly conservative, doing little to advance on the language of the early Romantic era composers, Schumann, Chopin and Liszt. And yet there is certainly a timelessness to its appeal that continues to speak to audiences and connect with players.

Hal Leonard’s 2013 publication Piano Music of Amy Beach offers an enticing introduction to this important composer’s work, and has recently been reprinted (in part because it is a core text for America’s National Federation of Music Clubs Junior Festivals programme for 2020-24).

The collection offers ten intermediate to advanced solo pieces selected from across Beach’s long career by Gail Smith. Let’s take a look…

Tag: Amy Beach

Amy Beach • Children’s Music

Piano Music of Amy Beach