AMY MARCY CHENEY(AMY BEACH)

Amy’s Childhood
At four years old, Amy composed three waltzes for piano during a summer at her grandfather’s farm in West Henniker, New Hampshire, where she was born. While she was there, she didn’t have a piano, so she composed those three pieces and played them once she came back home. She was also able to play music by ear, including 4-part hymns.

Childhood (cont.)
She began formal piano lessons with her mother Clara, at age six, and later gave public recitals of works by Handel, Beethoven, and Chopin, as well as her own pieces. One of her recitals was reviewed in the arts journal The Folio, and multiple agents proposed concert tours for Amy, but her parents declined.

Family life
In 1875, Amy and her family moved to Chelsea. Her family was advised to enroll Amy into a European conservatory, but opted instead for local training.

SCHOOL
Amy was first a surgeon and professor at Harvard. She later attended the New England Conservatory of Music.

More to her life
At one point in Amy’s life, her parents were not able to keep up with her musical interests and demands. Her mother would usually play and sing for Amy, but also attempted to keep Amy from playing the piano herself. Amy would often demand what music was played by her mother, and would often become enraged if the music didn’t meet her standards.

Amy moved to Europe in 1895 after her mother and father’s death in 1910 and 1895 in hopes to recover. In Europe she changed her name to Amy Beach. Amy returned to America in 1914 a little after World War II started.

Death
In 1940, Amy retired because of heart disease, and was 77 years old when she died on December 27, 1944, in New York.

GAELIC SYMPHONY

• Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iklcodWfLk
• Made October 30, 1896
• Performed at Boston

YEARS OF THE SPRING

• https://youtu.be/QjEB2Nvid8I

VALSE-CAPRICE

• https://youtu.be/fr-IhTSqZwI

WEBSITES USED

• Wikipedia
• Famouspeople.com
• Library of Congress