Amy Beach composed five works using Native American music as themes. Her usage reflected an interest, shared by MacDowell, Dvořák, Farwell and others, in developing an American musical idiom. In her Indianist works, Beach integrated source tunes through dissonance, chromaticism, drones, and other devices, facilitating her development of a unique musical language.

Works: Beach: Eskimos, Op. 64 (148-50), An Indian Lullaby, Op. 57, No. 3 (149), From Blackbird Hills: An Omaha Tribal Dance, Op. 83 (150-52), Trio, Op. 150 (152-54), String Quartet, Op. 89 (154-63).

Sources: Native American tunes transcribed by Boas in The Central Eskimo (144, 149-50, 152, 156, 160); Beach: The Returning Hunter, Op. 64, No. 2 (152-53).

Index Classifications: 1900s

Contributed by: Eytan Uslan