Talk:Amy Beach

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• Born on September 5, 1876 in Henniker, NH, Amy Marcy Cheney was a child prodigy. By the age of one, she knew forty songs and always sung them at the same pitch. When she was two she could compose a harmony with any melody her mother sang. By age four, she could sight read four part hymns and compose songs in her head and play them on the piano. She started taking piano lessons at age six with her mom and made her debut in 1885 at age 16, when she started to play with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. She played during the Romantic Era.

After that point, her career was based on the society’s views of women. It was believed that women composed on feeling rather than intellect, so she studied composition independently. She married Henry Harris Aubrey Beach in 1885 and he asked her to limit her concerts to just a few a year. This is when she decided to focus on her compositions. When he died in 1910 she started playing concerts again in Europe. Her husband’s desire for her to not play at concerts may have interrupted her career in one aspect, but it allowed her to study composition full-time. This was considered a rare luxury at the time. In her life, Beach wrote a variety of things, from orchestral music like Gaelic Symphony to opera like Cabildo. She also wrote choral music, including Mass in E-Flat and more than 120 songs for voice and piano. Beach also was responsible for numerous articles on composition and pedagogical topics. Amy Marcy Cheney Beach died on December 27, 1944 in New York, New York. After her death, her music, along with other Romantic works, was neglected. Recent committed singers and musicians are working to change that.

[edit] H.H.

It should be explained where the "H.H." comes from in her name. Is it "Her Highness"? Badagnani 06:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

It's from her marriage to Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach; it's also where the A and the Beach comes from. (3rd paragraph) :) -- Myke Cuthbert (talk) 19:52, 31 May 2007 (UTC)