Amy Beach’s Gaelic Symphony

Michael Tilson Thomas: Notturno
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Concerto No. 1 in G major for Flute & Orchestra
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach: “Gaelic” Symphony in E minor, Op. 32

Amy Beach was not just a pioneer as a female composer, she was one of the most acclaimed American composers of her era. Her “Gaelic” Symphony, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896, was the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. She was very inspired by Antonín Dvořák’s novel blending of his homeland’s Bohemian folk songs with American themes, and accomplished the same in this symphony by weaving old English, Scottish, and Irish melodies with American musical traditions.

The outstanding American flutist Demarre McGill makes his WSO debut with a Mozart classic and a virtuoso showpiece in the Italian style by conductor Michael Tilson Thomas.

PROGRAM NOTES

Consider coming to the performance early and joining us for a pre-concert chat from the stage at 6:45 pm.