AGNUS DEI from Grand Mass in E-flat Major

Stow Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Stow MA, Barbara Jones, conductor

[performing from a different edition]

The Agnus Dei is the final movement of Amy Beach‘s monumental Grand Mass in E-Flat Major, completed when Beach was 25 and first performed in 1892 by the Handel and Haydn Society orchestra of Boston. That group had never before performed a work by a woman. The critical acclaim which followed this milestone performance led to her being recognized as one of America’s foremost composers, and the 1890 publication of the vocal score was the first published major choral/orchestral work by an American woman.

This edition omits the lengthy harp passages from the original and also shortens the introduction somewhat. If performed with orchestral accompaniment, full score and parts are available from Creative Spirit.

DURATION: 10 minutes