Amy Beach was born in Henniker, New Hampshire, on September 5, 1867, and died in New York on December 27, 1944. The first performance of the “Gaelic” Symphony took place at Boston Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1896, with Emil Paur conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The “Gaelic” Symphony is scored for piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, and strings. Approximate performance time is forty-one minutes.

Amy Beach’s “Gaelic” Symphony premiered, to great acclaim, at Boston Music Hall on October 30, 1896. Emil Paur conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The “Gaelic” is the first published symphony by an American female composer. The work’s pioneering status is emblematic of Amy Beach’s lifelong determination to pursue her talent and passion for classical music, during an era when both Americans and women were discouraged from such an endeavor. 

As per the insistence of her husband, a prominent surgeon, the “Gaelic” Symphony was published and premiered under the composer’s married name of “Mrs. H.H.A. Beach.” Amy Beach, a gifted concert pianist, created this remarkable work without benefit of formal composition or orchestration studies, both forbidden by her husband.

The “Gaelic” Symphony may be seen, in part, as Beach’s response to Antonín Dvořák’s beloved Symphony No. 9, “From the New World” (1893). From the fall of 1892 through the summer of 1895, the Czech composer served as Director of the National Conservatory of Music of America, located in New York City. Dvořák came at the invitation of Jeannette Meyer Thurber, who founded the Conservatory with the hope that it would foster the development of important American concert music. 

While in America, Dvořák embarked upon an intense study of the folk music of the “New World.” Dvořák became convinced that the melodies of African and Native Americans were the foundation for this country’s national music. In his “New World” Symphony, Dvořák presented themes of his own creation that embodied the characteristics of the American folk music he so admired.

The Dvořák “New World” Symphony premiered at New York’s Carnegie Hall on December 16, 1893. The first Boston performances, attended by Beach, took place on December 29-30, with Emil Paur conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Beach began work on her Symphony No. 2 the following year, completing the score in 1896. 

Beach decided to seek musical inspiration from her ancestors in the British Isles. Beach chose both traditional Irish melodies, and her own music “in the same idiom and spirit” as the basis for her “Gaelic” Symphony. The result is a marvelous orchestral work in the grand Romantic tradition, brimming with inspired melody, rich orchestration, and compelling drama.

The “Gaelic” Symphony is in four movements. Beach’s song “Dark is the Night” provides the basis for the first movement’s (Allegro con fuoco) tempestuous opening and subsequent thematic material. There is also an Irish jig, featured in the winds. The second movement opens with a lilting melody in 12/8 time (Alla Siciliana). 

The movement’s quicksilver central portion (Allegro vivace) yields to a reprise of the opening episode (Tempo I). The Allegro vivace makes a brief final appearance at movement’s close. The slow-tempo third movement (Lento con molto espressione) depicts, according to the composer, “the laments... romance and... dreams” of the Irish people. The finale (Allegro di molto), a musical portrait of the Celtic people, “their sturdy daily life, their passions and battles,” journeys to a triumphant resolution.