Dvořák wove pentatonic scales from Native-American and African-American music and rhythms of slavic dances along with his European romantic style to create works unique to America—the melting pot.
Upon hearing of the derivations of Dvořák's New World Symphony, Beach heartily responded, "[w]e of the North should be far more likely to be influenced by old English, Scotch or Irish songs, inherited with our literature from our ancestors.
[7] In keeping with tradition passing through Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Brahms, a symphony is divided into four contrasting movements.
With a full romantic harmonic structure and a glimpse of the horizons of modern music, Beach's Gaelic Symphony set her apart as a prominent female composer at the turn of the twentieth century.
Critic Philip Hale "was generally enthusiastic about the work" although he "felt that Beach's orchestration was at times excessively heavy.
The symphony has received continued praise from modern critics as well, such as Andrew Achenbach of Gramophone, who in 2003 lauded the work for its "big heart, irresistible charm and confident progress.