Amy Marcy Cheney Beach was born on September 5, 1867, and died on December 27, 1944. She was an American composer and pianist. She was the first American woman to successfully create large-scale art music.

Her "Gaelic" Symphony was first performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1896. This was the first symphony written and published by an American woman.

She was among the first American composers of her time to achieve success without studying in Europe. She was widely respected as one of the most important American composers.

She performed piano concerts in the United States and Europe, often playing her own music.

Life

Amy Marcy Cheney was born on September 5, 1867, in Henniker, New Hampshire. Her parents were Charles Abbott Cheney and Clara Imogene (Marcy) Cheney. Charles was the nephew of Oren B. Cheney, who helped start Bates College. Clara was known for being a skilled pianist and singer. Amy showed early signs of being a musical prodigy. By age one, she could sing forty songs correctly. At two, she could create counter-melodies on her own. By three, she taught herself to read. At four, she composed three waltzes for piano during a summer at her grandfather’s farm in West Henniker, even though there was no piano there. She imagined the music and played it later. She could also play music by ear, including hymns with four parts. These talents may have been linked to her ability to hear pitches perfectly and a condition called synesthesia, where she associated each piano key with a color. She asked her parents to play music based on the colors she saw. She could only match two minor keys to colors, but this helped her play music by ear more easily. These abilities made her a talented musician and motivated her to pursue musical excellence. Her family struggled to meet her musical needs. Her mother sang and played for her but tried to stop her from playing the family piano, fearing it would weaken parental authority. Amy often insisted on the music played at home and became upset if it did not meet her standards.

Amy Beach began piano lessons with her mother at age six and soon performed publicly, playing works by Handel, Beethoven, Chopin, and her own compositions. A review in The Folio arts journal led to offers for concert tours, which her parents refused. Beach later thanked them for this decision.

In 1875, the Cheney family moved to Chelsea, a suburb near Boston. They were advised to send Amy to a European conservatory but chose local teachers instead, hiring Ernst Perabo and later Carl Baermann, who had studied with Franz Liszt. From 1881 to 1882, she studied harmony and counterpoint with Junius W. Hill. This was her only formal training as a composer, but she studied theory, composition, and orchestration on her own. She translated French books on orchestration into English for herself.

Amy Cheney made her concert debut at age sixteen on October 18, 1883, in Boston’s Music Hall. She played Chopin’s Rondo in E-flat and was the piano soloist in Moscheles’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in G minor. Critics praised her performance highly. The next two years included performances at Chickering Hall, and she starred in the final concert of the Boston Symphony’s 1884–85 season.

In 1885, she married Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach, a Boston surgeon and Harvard lecturer who was 24 years older than her. After marriage, she was listed as “Mrs. H. H. A. Beach” on concert programs and compositions. Her marriage required her to live as a society matron and patron of the arts, not to teach piano, and to limit public performances to two recitals per year, with profits donated to charity. She focused more on composing than performing, though she considered herself a pianist first. Her self-study in composition was partly due to her husband’s disapproval of her working with a tutor. These restrictions were common for women of her class at the time.

In 1942, Beach recalled her marriage as happy, saying, “I was happy and he was content.” After her husband’s death in 1910, she dropped the “Mrs.” title when performing in Germany but later used it again.

A major success came with her Mass in E-flat major, performed in 1892 by the Handel and Haydn Society, which had never played a piece by a woman. Critics called her one of America’s leading composers, comparing her work to pieces by Cherubini and Bach.

Beach’s Gaelic Symphony, the first symphony composed and published by an American woman, premiered on October 30, 1896, by the Boston Symphony. Critics focused on the composer’s sex when discussing the symphony. Composer George Whitefield Chadwick praised the piece, calling Beach “one of the boys” in a group of composers known as the Second New England School. With Beach, the group became the Boston Six.

In 1900, the Boston Symphony premiered her Piano Concerto, with Beach as the soloist. Some believe the piece reflects her struggles for control over her musical life. Beach was one of the first American women to gain popularity for composing symphonies.

After her husband’s death in 1910 and her mother’s death in 1911, Beach took time off from work. She traveled to Europe to recover and changed her name to “Amy Beach.” She traveled with Marcella (Marcia) Craft, an American soprano. Her first year in Europe was described as “of almost ent” (the text cuts off here).

Compositions

Amy Beach was part of a group of composers known as the "Second New England School" or "Boston Group." Other members of this group included John Knowles Paine, Arthur Foote, George Chadwick, Edward MacDowell, George Whiting, and Horatio Parker. Her music is mostly written in a style called the Romantic idiom, which is similar to the music of composers like Brahms and Rachmaninoff. In her later works, she tried new musical ideas, moving away from traditional tonality by using whole tone scales and more unusual harmonies and techniques.

Beach wrote a one-act opera called Cabildo and many other types of musical works. She composed the Gaelic Symphony in 1896 and the Piano Concerto in C-sharp minor between 1898 and 1899. Another piece, Bal masque, has a version for solo piano. Two more pieces, Eilende Wolken and Jephthah's Daughter, are for orchestra with a singer.

Beach’s sacred choral music is mostly written for four voices and an organ, though a few are for voices and orchestra. These include the Mass in E-flat major (1892) and her version of St. Francis's Canticle of the Sun (1924, 1928), which was first performed at St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York. A version of the Te Deum with an organ was first performed by the choir at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Boston. In 1998, the Capitol Hill Choral Society in Washington, D.C., recorded Canticle of the Sun, seven Communion Responses, and other works by Beach. The society was founded in 1983 by its musical director, Betty Buchanan.

Beach wrote many secular choral works, often accompanied by orchestra, piano, or organ. A publisher named Arthur P. Schmidt once told Beach that her choral pieces had little popularity.

Beach’s chamber music includes a violin sonata (recorded on seven different music labels), a romance and three other pieces for violin and piano, a piano trio, a string quartet, and a piano quintet.

Out of the more than 300 works published during her lifetime, the largest group is her art songs and vocal chamber music. She also wrote many chamber works and piano transcriptions, including Variations on Balkan Themes, which is her longest and most important solo piano piece. This work was written in 1904 in response to uprisings in the Balkans against the Ottoman Empire. Twelve of her works are instrumental chamber music. One important part of Beach’s musical career was her role as a skilled pianist, during which she performed her own compositions and those of others. She traveled widely in Germany, New England, and the Pacific Coast, bringing European-American concert music to western states. Two of her most frequently performed instrumental works are the Sonata in A Minor for Piano and Violin, Op. 34 and the Quintet in F♯ minor, Op. 67, both of which were played often in the United States and Germany. Another important piece that shows Beach’s skill and traditional style is her String Quartet, Op. 89.

In January 1897, Beach performed the premiere of her Sonata for Piano and Violin, Op. 34, which she composed in the spring of 1896. Franz Kneisel, a well-known violinist in Boston, was the concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra when he was about 20 years old. He formed the Kneisel String Quartet with three other musicians from the orchestra. The quartet continued until 1917, and Kneisel later moved to New York in 1905. In 1894, Beach joined the quartet to perform Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44. The Sonata has four movements, which are connected by using the opening theme of the first movement as a starting point for the others. Each movement is carefully written to follow traditional musical forms.

The premiere of the Sonata was followed by performances in New York, where critics had mixed opinions. Some called the piece immature, though they praised its use of complex musical interactions and emotional themes. The third movement, Largo con dolore, was especially controversial. Some critics praised its beauty, while others said it was too long and repetitive. Audiences, however, were deeply moved by the slow movement, with some applauding enthusiastically between the third and fourth movements. In Europe, the piece was generally well received. Teresa Carreño, a composer and pianist, performed the Sonata with violinist Carl Halir in Berlin in 1899 and wrote to Beach about it.

Reviewers in Berlin were

Writings

Beach was a music expert who wrote for magazines, newspapers, and other written works. She offered guidance to young musicians and composers, particularly young women who composed music. She shared her thoughts in articles such as "To the Girl who Wants to Compose" and "Emotion Versus Intellect in Music." In 1915, she wrote a book titled Music's Ten Commandments as Given for Young Composers, which shared many of her own learning methods.

Late 20th century and early 21st century revival and reception

After her death in 1944, Amy Beach was not well-known for many years. Interest in her music grew again in the late 20th century, and efforts to share her work have been successful in recent decades.

Modern critics have praised Beach’s symphony. In 2003, Andrew Achenbach of Gramophone said the work has "a big heart, irresistible charm, and confident progress." In 2016, Jonathan Blumhofer of The Arts Fuse wrote about her Piano Concerto, calling it an overlooked masterpiece.

In 1994, Phil Greenfield of The Baltimore Sun described the Piano Concerto as "a colorful, dashing work that might become extremely popular if more people hear it." In 2000, Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the composition as well. Andrew Achenbach of Gramophone also called it "ambitious" and "singularly impressive," noting its "brilliantly idiomatic solo writing" and "autobiographical intrigue" through its use of themes from three early songs.

In 1994, the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail placed a bronze plaque at Beach’s Boston home. In 1995, her gravesite at Forest Hills Cemetery was officially dedicated. In 1999, she was added to the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2000, the Boston Pops honored her by adding her name to the granite wall at Boston’s Hatch Shell, making her the first woman among 87 composers listed there. In 2017, Mayor Marty Walsh of Boston declared September 5 "Amy Beach Day" to celebrate her 150th birthday. That same year, The New York Times published an article by William Robin titled "Amy Beach, a Pioneering American Composer, Turns 150," marking her sesquicentennial.

Discography

• Piano Music, Volume 1, The Early Works, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7317
• Piano Music, Volume 2, The Turn of the Century, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7329
• Piano Music, Volume 3, The Mature Years, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7351
• Piano Music, Volume 4, The Late Works, Kirsten Johnson, piano, Guild GMCD 7387
• By the Still Waters, Joanne Polk, piano, Allmusic Z6693
• Under the Stars, Joanne Polk, piano, Arabesque, B000005ZYW
• Fire Flies, Joanne Polk, piano, Arabesque, Z6721 (1998)
• Une prodige empêchée, Jennifer Fichet, piano, Hortus 237 (2024)

Amy Beach, Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 34:
• Available on these labels: Albany No. 150, Arabesque No. 6747, Centaur Nos. 2312, 2767, Chandos No. 10162, Koch Nos. 7223, 7281, NWW No. 80542, Summit No. 270, White Pine No. 202. More details about Chandos 10162:
• Amy Beach, Sonata for Violin and Piano in A minor; Quartet for Strings; Pastorale for Wind Quintet; and Sketches (4) for Piano, Dreaming. Performed by the Ambache Chamber Ensemble. Chandos Records 10162
• Centaur 2312 also includes the Barcarolle for Violin and Piano, the three pieces for Violin and Piano Op. 40, the Romance Op. 23, and the Invocation Op. 55, all performed by Laura Klugholz, violin/viola, and Jill Timmons, piano
• Mrs. H.H.A. (Amy) Beach (1867–1944), music for two pianos. Virginia Eskin and Kathleen Supové, pianists. Koch 3–7345–2
• Amy Beach, Piano Quintet in F♯ minor, Op. 67. Old Stoughton String Quartet. AMRC 0040. Ambache Ensemble Chandos Records 9752
• Amy Beach, Songs. Sung by mezzo-soprano Katherine Kelton and accompanied by pianist Catherine Bringerud. Naxos 8559191
• Chamber Music CDs: 2 Ambache Ensemble recordings on Chandos Records (9752 & 10162), both awarded rosettes in the Penguin Guide: 1) Piano Quintet, Op. 67; Theme & Variations, Op. 80; Piano Trio, Op. 50. 2) String Quartet, Op. 89; Violin Sonata, Op. 34; Pastorale, Op. 151; Dreaming, Op. 50 No. 3.
• Amy Beach, 4 Sketches, Op. 15: No. 3. Dreaming, Romance, Op. 23, Violin Sonata in A Minor, Op. 34, Invocation, Op. 55, Lento espressivo, Op. 125. Matteo Amadasi, viola and Katia Spluga, piano. Stradivarius STR37259

• Amy Beach, Canticle of the Sun, Op. 123; Invocation for the Violin, Op. 55; With Prayer and Supplication, Op. 8; Te Deum, from Service in A, Op. 63; Constant Christmas, Op. 95; On a Hill; Kyrie eleison, Op. 122; Sanctus, Op. 122; Agnus Dei, Op. 122; Spirit of Mercy, Op. 125; Evening Hymn, Op. 125; I Will Give Thanks, Op. 147; Peace I leave With You, Op. 8. Performed by Capitol Hill Choral Society, Betty Buchanan, music director, Albany Records, 1998, TROY295
• Amy Beach, Grand Mass in E-flat major. Performed by the Stow Festival Chorus and Orchestra. Albany Records, 1995. TROY179
• Amy Beach, Grand Mass in E-flat major. Performed by the Michael May Festival Chorus. Compact disc. Newport Classic, 1989, 60008
• Amy Beach, Piano Concerto in C sharp minor with pianist Alan Feinberg and the Symphony in E minor ("Gaelic"). Performed by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Schermerhorn. Naxos 8559139. Note: one review of this mentions "Symphony No. 2" but Beach only wrote one symphony, the Gaelic.
• Amy Beach, Piano Concerto in C sharp minor with pianist Mary Louise Boehm (the first performer to revive this work, in 1976). Performed by the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Siegfried Landau. Turnabout QTV, 1976, 34665; reissued on Vox Turnabout CD 7196