The Mass in E Flat, Op. 5, was Amy Beach’s first major success, and it was the first mass written by an American woman. The piece marked Beach’s entry into the upper echelons of American composers.
Amy Beach began work on the mass in 1886, following the tradition of composition of a Mass as a demonstration of skill. The set text of the Mass provides a framework for young composer to hone their skills in the creation of a large work. This work app...
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The Mass in E Flat, Op. 5, was Amy Beach’s first major success, and it was the first mass written by an American woman. The piece marked Beach’s entry into the upper echelons of American composers.
Amy Beach began work on the mass in 1886, following the tradition of composition of a Mass as a demonstration of skill. The set text of the Mass provides a framework for young composer to hone their skills in the creation of a large work. This work appears to be based on models, a technique which Beach believed to be very important when composing in a new form. She may have used Luigi Cherubini’s Deuxième Messe Solenelle in D minor and Bach’s B-Minor Mass as her models, as the Handel and Haydn Society held performances of both of these masses around the time that Beach was beginning her work on the Mass, later premiering her Mass in 1892. Although the Mass was well received, it was not performed again until the 1980’s.
Following the traditional form of the Mass, the movements consist of...
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