Album

Naxos' American Classics series brings Amy Beach: Songs and thus enters into a territory of vocal repertoire long considered essential to performers of English language art songs, yet never a very crowded field in terms of recordings. Amy Beach: Songs is a generous survey of Beach's songs dating from 1880, when she was 12 years old, to the very last music she wrote before her death at age 77 in 1944.

Beach's songs were never designed to knock your socks off, but the received wisdom that they are nothing more than pleasant parlor tunes wholly reliant on German models isn't right either. Beach's songs are sensitive, poetic, and made with a clear purpose in mind—to project the texts through clearly stated and memorable melodic content. Mezzo soprano Katherine Kelton does an excellent job here in a wide range of material, the only caveat being that at times she's a little hard to understand, but all of the lyrics are included in the booklet so this is of no great concern. Accompanist Catherine Bringeraud paces all of the music very well and is strongly responsive to Kelton's voice while maintaining a mostly gentle and dignified calm. Kelton's liner notes are excellent and make the case for Beach without overstatement.

Listeners familiar with Beach note a trend toward a deepening harmonic color in the works written from about 1920 forward; they will no doubt delight to discover hints of this late direction already present in songs such as "Come, ah Come" from 1902. That's the benefit of the comprehensiveness of the selection presented in Amy Beach: Songs; the subtle twists and turns in Beach's style and development are outlaid in a way that makes sense and is genuinely easy to grasp. But don't expect to untangle her secrets in one setting—instant gratification isn't what Beach is about, and repeated listening pays off dividends here. Students of singing will doubtless welcome this release with open arms as Naxos has finally provided a package limited only to Beach's songs that is also, thankfully, a reliable and inexpensive guide to the way a large number of them are supposed to sound.

© Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide

CD 1
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer The Rainy Day (song; juvenilia) Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
1	The Rainy Day (song; juvenilia)	1:57			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.1 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
2	1.Ariette	1:56			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 3 Songs, Op.2 Work 3:44 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
3	2.When Far from Her	1:39			$0.99
4	3.Empress of Night	2:05			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.14 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
5	2.Le Secret	2:45			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 3 Songs, Op.19 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
6	2.Ecstasy (with violin obbligato)	2:04			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.29 Work 5:48 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
7	1.Within Thy Heart	2:06			$0.99
8	3.Sleep, Little Darling	3:42			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.35 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
9	1.Nachts (Nights)	2:22			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.41 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
10	3.Forgotten	2:06			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Burns Songs, Op.43 Work 3:30 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
11	1.Dearie	2:01			$0.99
12	4.Far Awa'	1:29			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 3 Robert Browning Songs, Op.44 Work 6:35 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
13	1.The Year's at the Spring	0:50			$0.99
14	2.Ah, Love, But a Day	2:57			$0.99
15	3.I Send My Heart Up to Thee	2:48			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.48 Work 4:06 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
16	1.Come, Ah Come	1:53			$0.99
17	4.Canzonetta	2:13			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.51 Work 9:21 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
18	1.Ich sagete nicht (Silent Love)	2:41			$0.99
19	2.Wir Drei (We Three)	2:49			$0.99
20	3.Juni (June)	1:59			$0.99
21	4.Je demande à l'oiseau (For My Love)	1:52			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.56 Work 3:45 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
22	2.Go Not Too Far	1:19			$0.99
23	4.Shena Van (with violin obbligato)	2:26			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 2 Mother Songs, Op.69 Work 4:28 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
24	1.Baby	2:15			$0.99
25	2.Hush, Baby Dear	2:13			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 3 Songs, Op.71 Work 4:05 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
26	1.A Prelude	1:20			$0.99
27	2.O Sweet Content	2:45			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 2 Songs, Op.72 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
28	1.Ein altes Gebet (An Old Prayer)	2:09			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 2 Songs, Op.73 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
29	2.Der Totenkranz (The Children's Thanks)	2:19			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 4 Songs, Op.75 Work 2:58 Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
30	1.The Candy Lion	1:37			$0.99
31	2.A Thanksgiving Fable	1:21			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer In the Twilight, song, Op.85 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
32	In the Twilight, song, Op.85	3:05			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 3 Songs, Op.117 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
33	2.The Host	1:25			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer 2 Songs, Op.137 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
34	2.May Flowers	1:40			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer I Sought the Lord, for voice and organ, Op.142 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
35	I Sought the Lord, for voice and organ, Op.142	2:22			$0.99
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach Composer Though I Take the Wings of Morning, for voice and organ or piano, Op.152 Work Katherine Kelton Soprano, Catherine Brigerud Piano
36	Though I Take the Wings of Morning, for voice and organ or piano, Op.152	2:51			$0.99