10 - Beach’s Dramatic Works

Summary

Amy Beach’s “dramatic works” encompass a select few compositions over the course of her career, united by shared themes and collaboration with other female artists: two dramatic unstaged arias for solo voice and orchestra, Eilende Wolken, Segler der Lüfte (1892) and Jephthah’s Daughter (1903); and her only opera, Cabildo (1932). These dramatic works are few and far between in her oeuvre, but they represent landmarks in her lifelong creative processes. Eilende Wolken, Beach’s first commissioned work, is one of the first examples of her use of folk song in her compositions. Jephthah’s Daughter is a challenging and mature work, straddling her years focused primarily on composition and the revival of her performing career. Cabildo is filled with borrowed folk song and her own melodies with a romantic plot set during a major American historical event, representing the qualities of American opera she suggested for years.