Amy Beach -- A Musical Pioneer
When the word composer comes up in conversation, a few names are the first to come to mind: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and maybe Tchaikovsky. However, not a single female composer comes even close to making this list, with the few notables -- Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn -- only rising to relative prominence due to their association with already famous male composers (Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn). There are many articles and statements of historical figures confirming gender bias in the field of music -- that’s not the subject of this article. Despite gender bias in music, a remarkable woman managed to overcome it, and that woman -- Amy Beach -- is the subject of this article. Not only was Beach’s music regarded as genius, of the likes of Bach and Brahms, but it also struck the first blow to the towering gender barrier and allowed later women to experience more success in music.
Born in New Hampshire in the year 1867, the young Amy was quick to demonstrate her exceptional capabilities. She had memorized over forty tunes and could point out mistakes when others sang a wrong note. By the age of two, her perfect pitch, incredible memory, and remarkable ability to understand and sing music were well-established in her family. And by the age of four, she could improvise harmonies to melodic lines that her mother played, while also creating small pieces of music herself. As she began to take lessons at six, more and more people acknowledged her remarkable talent. When she debuted at sixteen, Beach was quickly recognized as a budding talent, and many advised that her parents send her to Europe to develop her musical career. However, her parents opted to keep her in the United States for social reasons, and she had to self-learn complicated topics like orchestration and harmony while learning piano and composition from local teachers.
Despite the relative disadvantage that Beach experienced, her career was still long, productive, and successful. After marrying her husband, who suggested that she focus solely on composing and perform only for proceeds to donate to charities, Beach became a prolific composer. Her music, getting an advantage in publishing due to her husband’s myriad of connections, cemented her reputation in the United States as one of the best composers of her day. When she toured Europe after her mother’s and husband’s deaths, her success performing for European audiences furthered her fame and influence on the continent and back home in the United States. Beach’s tour in Europe also served to push back on the prejudice against female composers, with many critics citing her as a genius and similar to Bach and Brahms. A German critic, who was particularly favorable even said that Beach’s name is enough to dispel the foolish prejudice against women composers.
As Beach’s music brought to light her genius and furthered the awareness that women could also be capable and talented composers, the invisible wall preventing other women from pursuing music careers began to fall. However, Beach didn’t stop working towards evening the playing field for women in music by simply making a name for herself. She would later fund and become active in the Society of American Women Composers and other women’s clubs to help upcoming women musicians succeed as she did.
Ultimately, the story of Amy Beach is that of a genius who broke down a centuries-old gender bias in music. Through her prolific work as a composer, extensive performing career, and extensive aid to associations supporting women in music, Beach pioneered the way for women to achieve recognition for their work. So, even though Amy Beach isn’t a common name associated with classical music, her contributions to the field make her quite worthy of a place among the greats.
Works Cited
“Amy Marcy Beach.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Feb. 2024, www.britannica.com/biography/Amy-Marcy-Beach. Accessed 01 Apr. 2024.
“Who Was Amy Beach?” Who Was Amy Beach? - Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, www.chambermusicsociety.org/news/who-was-amy-beach/. Accessed 01 Apr. 2024.
“Amy Beach.” Visit the Main Page, www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Amy_Beach. Accessed 01 Apr. 2024.
“Beach, Amy (1867-1944).” Harvard Square Library, www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/biographies/uu-composers-amy-beach/. Accessed 01 Apr. 2024.