Composer of the Week

By the early 1920s, Amy Beach was an American musical institution - albeit somewhat steeped in the Victorian era. Who would have expected, then, that aged 54, the composer would begin a remarkable new direction in her musical life, centred upon the idyllic Macdowell Colony - an artists' retreat deep in the New Hampshire woods. There, Amy Beach composed an outpouring of evocative chamber works, fusing her own lyrical expression with more modern elements to create a uniquely personal musical style. Donald Macleod introduces a pair of pieces evoking the Hermit Thrush's morning and evening calls, as well as major pieces for string quartet and one of the composer's most passionate songs.