AMY BEACH, born Amy Marcy Cheney in 1867. Not only the first successful woman composer in America, but one of the first most successful composers period. It was the Boston Symphony, no less, who premiered her first symphony in 1896. Even before then, she was compared to Bach for her Mass in E flat. Admired by all her male peers, she was the youngest member of the composing group the Boston Six. She made her piano debut at 16. And all without the benefit of a fancy education in Europe: her only teachers were locals in Boston. and the Berlioz treatise on orchestration which she translated from the French for herself.
And then she got married. She was 18: he was 42, and he gave her conditions for marrying her. That she give up piano teaching: that she limit her performances to two recitals a year; and that she live according to his status, that is, function as a society matron and patron of the arts. She would henceforth be listed on her concert programs as Mrs H H A Beach. And although she was happy, actually, because she loved him, then - to fast forward to 1910 - then he died. And we suddenly see her making her Dresden debut. Conquering Europe. Supporting herself composing. Throwing herself into wonderful education initiatives. Embarking on the whirl of the speaking circuit. Awarded an honorary degree. And of her large output, some hundreds of works are recorded and still performed today
Presented by composer Joan Tower for International Women’s Month in March, written and produced by Charlotte Wilson for WMHT
