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The Girl Who Made Melodies

“See, the conquering hero comes” rang out in the studio, clear and true as a bell. The photographer thrust his head out from under the big black hood of the camera and stared in amazement at the tiny sitter. The two-year-old child was singing the very air that he had been practicing for the first peace jubilee, and she was singing it absolutely correctly. Others were eventually to be astonished at the musical ability of this little girl, who grew up to be America’s foremost woman composer.

Amy Marcy Cheney was born in the little town of Henniker, New Hampshire, September 5, 1867. From the time that she was a year old, her talent amazed even her musical mother. She learned dozens of airs and sang them, keeping the pitch perfectly. She would listen delightedly for hours to violin music.

At the age of four Amy was finally allowed to play on the piano. Often when her aunt was seated at the instrument, little Amy would stand on a hassock and play with her, making up an accompaniment as she went along.

Just as other little girls plan how to arrange their playhouses or how to make new dresses for their dolls, this little girl used to think out tunes. Once, when she was visiting at a house where there was no piano, she composed a little piece of music. She remembered it and three months later was able to play it correctly on the piano at home. She had composed three other little pieces before she was seven years old.

Long before Amy knew the names of musical notes, she knew their meaning and could read them. It amused her to transpose from one key to another, and she never found it difficult.

When she was six years old Amy thought that she should have regular music lessons, so she begged her mother, who was an excellent pianist, to teach her. You may be sure that little Amy Cheney never had to be urged to practice. At seven years of age she played several times in public. Before long she was playing difficult music from Chopin, Bach, and other composers.

When Amy was eight years old her family moved to Boston. The prominent musicians of this city before whom she played agreed that she was ready to go to Europe to study music. However, Mr. and Mrs. Cheney did not want their little girl to be trained only in music. They knew that she would be happier and healthier if she were to go to school with children of her own age. They also realized that she should have plenty of time to romp and play outdoors with other children.

Amy was therefore sent to a private school, conducted by Mr. W. L. Whittemore, where she rapidly mastered the regular studies. She was greatly helped in her piano work by her good ear and accurate memory. She was able to play a whole Beethoven sonata without notes after she had heard one of her fellow-pupils practice it.

While Amy was quite young her quick ear and good memory gave her an opportunity to be of real service to the world. Professor Sill, a scientist who made birds his special study, asked her to record the songs of the California larks.

Out into the fields they went together and waited, motionless, for the birds to appear. Then just as soon as one of the little feathered creatures trilled out his melody, Amy wrote it down in notes. The song thus caught was kept for all time. She continued this practice of recording songs so that she finally had a volume filled with bird melodies.

Amy Cheney studied under Ernst Perabo, Carl Baerman, and Junius W. Hill. She also studied many musical subjects independently. She did not always want to be helped over the problems that confronted her, preferring to work them out alone. Translating books on music and memorizing and rewriting difficult music were some of the hard tasks that this earnest, thorough young student set for herself.

At sixteen years of age this young pianist made her first professional appearance before the public at a recital in Boston, and was greatly praised. The next year she played with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra. During that year a beautiful song which she had composed, entitled With Violets, was published. It was considered by musical critics to be faultless in form.

The following year Amy Cheney became the wife of Dr. H. H. A. Beach, of Boston. She did not, however, give up her musical career. In fact, all of her most important pieces of music were written after her marriage.

Mrs. Beach has composed music for the orchestra, piano, and violin, and has also written cantatas and many songs. One of her most famous and successful pieces of music is her Jubilate cantata, written for the dedication of the Woman’s Building at the World’s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in 1893. At this Exposition Maud Powell, the famous violinist, and Mrs. Beach played one of Mrs. Beach’s compositions written for the violin and piano.

The music for a poem called Dark Is the Night is thought by many people to be her best song. Other favorites are: Across the World, Scottish Cradle Song, and Fairy Lullaby. Mrs. Beach’s songs are always enjoyed by those who appreciate the best music.

Success did not spoil the young girl whose marked musical ability had attracted attention ever since her babyhood. Not content with what had come easily to her, Amy Marcy Cheney Beach kept on working to develop her talent. Her love of music and enthusiasm for it were not alone responsible for placing her foremost among the women composers of America. It was her desire for knowledge, leading her to studiously apply herself to her work, that enabled her to create music which has brought pleasure to thousands of people.