|
Composer (1867-1944)
Born in Henniker, NH just after the Civil War Amy Cheney was composing piano
tunes by age four. Today she is remembered as "America's first distinguished and
celebrated woman composer". The NH prodigy was performing publicly in Boston by
age 16. At 18 she married a prominent 43-year old Boston doctor who urged his
wifeto compose rather than perform on the piano. As Mrs. H.H. A. Beach she composed
more than 150 numbered works - choral, orchestral, sacred, songs. She composed
music to the poetry of major poets and, after her husband's death, toured Europe
with great success after the turn of the 20th century. She attended the MacaDowell
summer artist's colony in Peterborough, NH for two decades starting in 1921. Her
work thrives today on the Internet, in CD, in sheet music, on digital files, in
books - and her compositions are continually performed.
A child prodigy from Henniker, her music
is still widely performed today
More Famous NH People
AMY MARCY CHENEY BEACH LINKS
BIOGRAPHY
Women in American History
An online series by Encyclopedia Britannica
Amy Beach and the birth of "Gaelic" Symphony
How to Write an American Symphony, article by Adrienne Fried Block on American
Composers
Amy Beach
Snort bio from the Capitol Hill Choral Society
Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, New Hampshire Composer
Superb University of New Hampshire special collections online exhibit including
letters, many photos, music
Amy Marcy Beach: Composer Profile
From Thomas Hampson "I Heave America Singing"
WNET, New York, Great Performance Series
Amy Beach: The First Great Woman Composer of America
By Gail Smith of Creative Keyboard Productions
Short Biography from Women's Pages
Student Report on Any Beach from Olympia, WA
Composer Beach Strikes a Chord
News article from the Concord Monitor, NH
ibiblio.com Bio
Collaboration of the center for the public domain
The Only Henniker on Earth
Hometown of Amy Beach and Ocean Born Mary
The MacDowell Colony
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Book: Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian
The Life and Work of an American Composer by Adrienne Friend Block
Book Review: Amy Beach and Her Chamber Music
Review of book by by Jeanell Wise Brown
UNH Special Collections
The Life & Music of Amy Beach
Photos, essays and music complied by Gail Smith, Mel Bay Productions
AMB Links from "Women in Music"
Amy Beach Special Collections
University of Missouri Library, Kansas City, MO
LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
"Ah, Love, But a Day" written 1900 (AUDIO)
Music by AMB to lyrics by Robert Browing, performed here by Frederica von Stade
& John Browning. Lyrics included with excellent sound file.
Amy Beach Compact Disk
Recorded by the Capitol Hill Chorus
Minuet in F (Op. 36, No. 1) (ACROBAT)
Download the sheet music and play it yourself.
Amy Beach "Sacred Music" (AUDIO)
Audio samples of The Chancel Choir of Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church
"Morning Glories" on CD
Joanne Polk with the Lark Quartet, classical piano
Amy Beach -- Work for the Piano
Sheet music collection with ordering form from Florida
MUSIC COMPOSITION BACKGROUND
Women's Early Music, Art, Poetry
Mostly MIDI Mostly Early Soundfiles by Women Composers
Composers Index - Women Composers
Historical Women Composers from Women in Music
The Woman Composer Question: Bibliography
From the Nortron Grove Dictionary of Women
Composers.com, The American Composers Alliance
Amercian Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP)
Broadcast Music, Inc.
More Famous NH People
Photo: UNH Special Collections
Copyright © 2001 SeacoastNH.com. All rights reserved. |
