Amy Beach

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Amy Beach is considered to be the earliest American female composer of enormous success. She wrote over 150 works which include piano pieces, chamber music, a piano concerto, an opera and a symphony. Her work was held up as a beacon of American accomplishment. Although she was valued by the press and society as a symbol of women's progress, she herself did not speak very openly about this aspect of her career. 

Amy Beach Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline
Amy Beach (1867 - 1944)
Image source

At the age of 17 she performed Chopin's Piano Concerto in F minor with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The next year, aged 18, she married Dr. Harrison H.A. Beach - an eminent surgeon, Harvard University professor and devoted amateur musician. Her husband objected to the idea of her pursuing a career as a concert pianist, but did encourage her to compose. So Amy embarked on a rigorous course of self-instruction in musical theory and composition. This was unusual, given that most American composers travelled to Europe to study further, as Edward MacDowell had done, to study with Franz Liszt in Weimar.  

Photo Gallery | Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Amy Beach
Image source

Amy Beach's Gaelic Symphony was the first published symphonic work written by a woman (in America at least, if not the world) and was the first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. To write a symphony in the 19th century was still very prestigious and was recognised as the apex of compositional practice. 

Listen here to her Gaelic Symphony:



Dr Beach died in June 1910. The subsequent year, Mrs Beach resumed her career as a concert pianist and toured Europe and the United States with great success, whilst also continuing to compose.

Listen to her Piano Concerto in C sharp Minor dedicated to the pianist Teresa Carreño (featured previously on DHM):




This blog is intended to be educational and to share knowledge about music. Daily Hit of Music does not claim to own anything contained in this post and declares its sources openly. 
The following sources were used for this blog post: accompanyNH, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Image sources can be found in the image captions. 
Recordings can be found on YouTube by clicking the 'DHM YouTube Playlist' links.

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