From the Press of A. P. Schmidt

Amy Marcy Cheney (1867–1944), known professionally as Mrs. H. H. A. Beach since her marriage at the age of 18 to a man older than her father, was a child prodigy who continued to develop her reputation as a pianist and composer throughout her adult life. Although largely self-taught, Beach successfully combined European Romantic traditions with distinctly American influences, securing her a place among the leading composers of her era. Her output ranged from numerous art songs and works for solo piano to several substantial concert pieces—including a piano concerto.

Wilhelm Gericke led the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the world premiere of Beach’s Piano Concerto in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 45, on April 7, 1900, with the composer herself seated at the piano. Although an enthusiastic audience would call Beach back to the stage no fewer than four times, critical opinions were mixed. Not until her European concert tour in 1913 did Beach firmly establish the concerto’s reputation, earning high praise from reviewers in Leipzig, Hamburg, and Berlin.

Serving as Beach’s principal music publisher from 1885 through around 1913, Arthur P. Schmidt had already published the vocal score to Beach's Mass in E-Flat Major, Op. 5 (1890), and the full score to her ”Gaelic” Symphony in E Minor, Op. 32 (1897), when he agreed to publish the new concerto soon after its premiere. Schmidt thus issued the concerto in a reduction for two pianos, as shown above, rather than printing the full orchestral score—a common strategy for publishers seeking to reach a wider market because such a reduction was far more practical for study and home performance. 

A drawback to this approach became clear in 1911, following pianist Dagmar Rybner’s successful performance of the concerto in Washington, D.C., when the Library of Congress requested a copy of the full score for its collection. As Beach explained to Schmidt in a letter dated January 28:

“I replied that I could not spare that copy, as it was the only one and I must have it back. Immediately came a letter from Mr. Putnam [the Librarian of Congress] expressing consternation that the unique copy of such a work should be exposed to the risks of transportation etc., and requesting most urgently that they be allowed to have a copy made at their expense, for ensuring the safe preservation of the work in future.”

Beach and Schmidt both granted their permission for the manuscript copy to be made, although the publisher never elected to print the full score himself.

🔎 View piano reduction at the International Music Score Library Project.