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Amy Beach: A Guide to Primary and Secondary Resources at the Library of Congress

Music Manuscripts

Amy Beach, composer. Peace on Earth: Christmas Anthem, op. 38. [1897?]. A.P. Schmidt Company archives. Library of Congress Music Division.

Amy Beach's manuscripts live in multiple locations in the Music Division's collections. Nine of these manuscripts have been classified under the call number ML96.B4. Find most of her manuscripts by searching the finding aid to the AP Schmidt Company archives.

The A.P. Schmidt Company archives include manuscripts for many of Beach's most important works. Beach was a prolific composer of songs, writing well over one hundred throughout her career, and many of their manuscripts are represented in the Schmidt Company archives. Other important works by Beach in the archives include:

  • Eilende Wolken, op. 18: premiered by the Symphony Society of New York, the first composition by a woman played by that orchestra
  • Mass in E-flat: First notable success as a composer, performed by Boston's Handel and Haydn Society
  • Sonata for Violin and Piano, op. 34: premiered by Beach and Franz Kneisel
  • Symphony, op. 32 ("Gaelic" Symphony): First symphony composed and published by an American woman
  • Variations on Balkan themes, op. 60: Her longest, most important piano work, which responded to the Balkan revolts against the Ottoman Empire

How to Find Holograph Manuscripts by Beach