Accomplished As Can Be If asked whether someone considers himself or herself “accomplished,” typical responses would vary widely, ranging from people with great confidence in what they have created with their lives to people who feel they have not yet done anything worthwhile. Nowadays, what is considered an accomplishment changes daily from person to person, but if you were an upper-class female living in the nineteenth century you knew exactly what it took to take on the title of “accomplished.” Amy Beach was a nineteenth century female pianist and composer who pushed these boundaries placed on women while simultaneously adhering to them as to not completely disrupt societal expectations of her. In contrast to society today, men and women’s…show more content… These ideals set woman back from composing, but this did not stop Amy Beach. After being forced to give up her career as a musician, afraid she would never be able to fulfill the hole leaving music created in her heart she set out to teach herself how to compose music (lecture). It was thought that women “will always be the recipient and interpreter” of symphonic music but she would never actually write music, Amy Beach disproved this (Upton 31). Even though many believed it impossible for a women to write large-scale symphonies – Amy did exactly that, each one being extremely well received and gaining her popularity. And although Amy Beach broke barriers encasing women, she also went out of her way to behave as the accomplished woman was expected to for her husband and…show more content… She enjoyed a brief career as a professional pianist up until she married Dr. Henry Beach, who “considered a career as a professional pianist inappropriate for a woman” so he promptly cut back her performances to twice a year (Burkholder 755). When she was allowed to perform, Amy had to give up all of the money to charity per her husband’s request. This is a strong example of how Amy Beach also adhered to societal norms. It was looked upon as not lady-like for a woman to have a job or earn money because this portrayed the idea that the man of the house was unable to take care of his family (lecture). Another example of how Amy Beach regularly conformed to common standards was how she published “her works under her married name, Mrs. H.H.A. Beach.” (Burkholder 755) This was a significantly more subtle expression of inequality between the sexes when it came to composing music. Women were viewed as not being capable to compose a successful symphony so Amy Beach published under her married name; therefore unless paying enough attention, the fact that the composer of this music was a woman could easily go unnoticed by the
