"The Year's at the Spring (How Exciting)" The American composer Amy Beach wrote the music for this song in 1899. She was the first American woman to compose and publish large-scale orchestral works. The Boston Symphony Orchestra premiered her "Gaelic Symphony" in 1896. She was also an accomplished concert pianist who performed in both America and Europe. She was born in New Hampshire and as an adult lived near Boston. She was also a music educator and wrote about music for journals and newspapers. She died in 1944. Beach originally composed "The Year's at The Spring" for piano and voice. The lyrics to "The Year's at the Spring" are by the English Victorian poet Robert Browning who wrote them in 1841 as part of a verse drama called "Pippa Passes". Flowery Prose "The Year's at The Spring" is the most well known poem from Browning's play and it is Beach's most well know art song. It was originally written for a pianist and a classically trained soprano and it has been recorded many times. The opening chords are the same as many popular tunes throughout the 20th century including "Heart and Soul", "Teenager in Love", and "I Will Always Love You". We have sung this song with ukuleles in many different ways - this is our "How Exciting!" version. |
