Thou singest ye carol

Scottish-American Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 – 1944) was a composer and a pianist. But above all, she was a pioneer – a great inspiration for many female composers of her time and of generations to come. Beach became the first American woman to establish a name for herself in music, against all social expectations of the time.

She didn’t just establish a name for herself in the US, but also in Europe. Here she received a lot of praise, particularly for her Mass in E-flat, Gaelic Symphony, Variations on Balkan Themes, a piano quintet, several choir pieces and her chamber music. But she was most renowned for her songs. She primarily composed in a Romantic idiom, often compared to that of Brahms.

Playlist:

Amy Beach (Mrs. H.H.A. Beach)

1. Singing Joyfully’
   Mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer, soprano Sunny Joy Langton and Kimberly Schmidt, piano
2. a. ‘The Rainy Day’ (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow); b. ‘Ariette’, Op.1/4 (P.B. Shelley); c. ‘When far from Her’, Op.2 (lyrics H.H.A. Beach); d. ‘Empress of Night’ Op. 2 (H.H.A. Beach)
   Mezzo-soprano Katerine Kelton and Catherine Bringerud, piano
3. ‘Three Songs by Robert Browning’, Op.44 – a. ’Ah, love but a Day’; b. ‘I send my Heart up to Thee’ (I am a Gondola); c. ‘The Years at the Spring’ from Pippa Passes
   Soprano Deborah Voigt and pianist Brian Zeger
4. ‘Ecstasy’, Op. 19 (lyrics Mrs.H.H.A. Beach)
   Mezzo-soprano Katerine Kelton and Catherine Bringerud piano
5. a. ‘Le Secret’, Op.14/2 (Jules le Comte de Reséguier); b. ‘Nacht’, Op.35/1 (Ernst Scherenberg); c. ‘Ich sagte nicht’, Op.51/1 (Eduard Wissman); d. ‘Wir drei’, Op.51/2 (Hans Eschelbach); e. ‘Juni’, Op.51/3 (Erich Jansen); f. ‘Je demande à l’oiseau’, Op.51/4 (Armand Silvestre); g. ‘Ein altes Gebet’, Op.72 (Gustav Knak); h. ‘Der Totentanz’, Op.73 (Louis Zacharias)
   Mezzo-soprano Katerine Kelton and Catherine Bringerud on piano
6. a. ‘The Candy Lion’, Op.75/1 (Abbie Farwell Brown); b. ‘Thanksgiving Fable’, Op.75/2 (Oliver Herford); c. ‘In the Twilight ’, Op.85 (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow); d. ‘The Host’, Op.117/2 (Muna Lee); e. ‘May Flowers’, Op.137/2 (Anna Moody); f. ‘I sought the Lord’, Op.142 (n.n.); g. ‘Though I Take the Way of Morning’, Op.152 (R.H. Spencer)
   Mezzo-soprano Katerine Kelton and Catherine Bringerud on piano

https://imslp.org/wiki/List_of_works_by_Amy_Marcy_Beach
(link to a list of Amy Beach’s works)