Festival jubilate, op. 17 by Amy Cheney Beach (1867-1944) : a performing edition

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Randy Charles Brittain (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
William Carroll

Abstract: Amy Cheney Beach (1867-1944) was the first outstanding American woman composer in choral music. She was a prolific composer of choral music throughout her long career, composing both large-scale and small-scale choral works. Following the critical success of the premiere performance of her Mass in E-flat, op. 5 by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston on 7 February 1892, the Board of Lady Managers of the Chicago Columbian World's Exposition of 1893 commissioned Beach to write an extended choral-orchestral work for the dedication ceremonies of the Woman's Building on 18 October 1892. Beach composed Festival Jubilate, op. 17 for the occasion, and this work holds the distinction of being the first commissioned choral-orchestral work by an American woman in the United States. Exposition politics between the Board of Lady Managers and the Bureau of Music delayed the premiere performance of the work until the official opening of the Woman's Building on 1 May 1893. Since the 1970s, with the advent of a second feminist movement, there has been a rebirth of interest in American women composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and in Beach's music in particular. This interest has brought about the rediscovery and reprinting of many of Beach's compositions, including her chamber works, art songs, and piano music. The choral works have largely not been a part of this rediscovery and reprinting. Modern performances of these choral works will take place only with the accessibility of new or reprint editions.

Additional Information

Publication
Dissertation
Language: English
Date: 1994
Subjects
Beach, Amy, $d 1867-1944. $t Festival jubilate, $n op. 17
Beach, Amy, $d 1867-1944 $x Criticism and interpretation

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