- Playing
- Amy Beach, December 27, 1944
- From
- Jonathan Thomas Stratman
So ... who was Amy Beach? Simply one of the greatest American composers many of us have never heard.
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Transcript
Amy Beach died today, December 27, 1944.
So … who the heck was Amy Beach? Simply one of America’s foremost classical composers … and one of our most overlooked.
Beach was born in New Hampshire, September 1867. A prodigy. Age one, she sang 40 songs in perfect pitch. By two, improvised countermelody. Three, she composed simple waltzes. Four, imagined her first musical piece, wrote it, then sat down at the piano and played it.
At seven, gave public recitals of works by Handel, Beethoven, Chopin … plus a few of her own.
Thirteen, after a family visit from the poet Longfellow, she wrote her first published song … “The Rainy Day”.
Eighteen, made her professional debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Clearly she was gifted. So … what happened?
What happened was marriage … to Dr. H. H. A. Beach, twenty-five years her senior.
Composition, said the new husband, was to be her new...
Read the full transcript
Musical Works
| Title | Artist | Album | Label | Year | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Symphony in E Minor Op 32 | Neeme Jarvi/Detroit Symphony Orchestra | Barber & Beach Orchestral Works. | Chandos | 1992 | 07:48 |
