Composer of the Week

Possessing American ancestry going back several generations, and having never studied in Europe, Amy Beach is often considered the first truly American composer. In today's episode, Donald Macleod introduces her "Gaelic" symphony of 1897, written shortly after Antonin Dvorak had called on American composers to forge a new national identity in music. He also introduces three songs on texts by Robert Browning, and a charming North Atlantic cousin of Elgar's 'Salut d'Amour'.