Amy Marcy Beach

“The essential thing is to have something to say, and to say it in a way that is your own.”

“Music is the superlative expression of life experience, and woman by the very nature of her position is denied many of the experiences that color the life of man.”

“Art is universal. It is not of sex.”

“From the beginning, I have been a composer, not a ‘woman composer.’”

“We of the north should be as proud of our folk-music as the Hungarians of their csárdás or the Bohemians of their polkas.”

“I feel that I am a pioneer, and I must not fail.”

“I thought, 'I am an American composer; I will use American themes.'”

“The woman who is a genius, as a man is a genius, is not a freak of nature.”

“I have always believed that music should speak for itself.”

“My aim has been to make my music reflect the life and spirit of my country.”

“A composer must be able to express the deepest emotions of the human soul.”

“The colored race has a peculiar gift for melody, and their music is full of it.”

“There is a great future for American music, if our composers will only be true to themselves and to their country.”

“To be a composer is to be a creator, and creation is the highest joy of life.”