american opera, has it arrived?

8/11/2019 American Opera, Has it arrived?

1/10

The American Opera: Has It Arrived?Author(s): William SaundersSource: Music & Letters, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Apr., 1932), pp. 147-155Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/726749.

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2/10

THE AMERICAN OPERA

HAS

IT

ARRIVED ?

THE firstoperatic performance ver

aiven in

America,

so far as

existingrecords

show,

was

that of the ballad opera, ' Flora, or

Hob

in the Well,' by

John

Hippisley,

whicli

was

produced

n

the Court-

room,Charleston,S.C., on February8, 1735. This work, composed

in 1729,

the

year

after John

Gay's

famous

work,

'

The Beggar's

Opera,'

which

really

was the

pioneer production

n this elass

of

lyric

drama, was one of the

earliest

operas of the

kind, but why

t should

have been chosen

by the Charleston

Company n preference o the

morefamous

nd popular Beggar's Opera does not

transpire. After

this,

ballad opera performances

became of frequent

occurrence

throughout

he Colonies, and we

have it on the authorityof Mr.

Waldo

Selden

Pratt,

that

The first allad-operadraftedn Americawas ' The Disappoint-

ment

(1767), the libretto by AndrewBarton) inlvolving

he use

of

18

popular

airs.

The projected performanceof

this at

Philadelphiawas givenup because its satirewas too

personal. By

whom

the

songs

were

to

be

arranged s not known.

It was

not

until

1790, however,

ong

after

the

foundation

f

the

Union,

that the

entity kinown,

nder

various

forms,

as

'

Grand

Opera began

to

appear

and

rise

in

popularity

n the United

States.

But all

of

these were of English or foreign origin

and

generally

performed y European companies.

'

The Archers, f Switzerland,'

by B. Carr, produced

n

New York

City on April 18, 1796,

is

claimed

as the first

enuine American opera,

although this

claim

is

disputed

in

favour f

Edwin and Angelina,' by a Frenchman

named

Pellisier,

produced also in New York on

December 19 of the

same

year.

But

apparently the nationalities of the

respective composers

went

for

nothing as Carr was an

Englishman, and the fact that

the operas

had been

composed on American soil seems to have been

sufficient,

in

the

opinion

of the alleged

authoritiesof the time, to confer

Americannationality pon them. On January29, 1798, the famous

Park

Theatre was

opened

in New York and this event

marked the

beginning of

the remarkable history of operatic production

n the

United

States,

a history n which many other cities

were soon

creditably nvolved, and which to

this day is still very

much in the

making. In

November,1825, the first eason of Italian

grand opera

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3/10

148

MUSIC

AND

I4ETTERS

was

opened

n

New

York

with

performance

f

Rossini's

II

Barbiere

di

Siviglia

by

the

famous

ompany-practically

complete

amily

concern-ofManuelGarcia,theElder. The cast includedhis son

Manuel,

he

nventor

f

he

aryngoscope;

nd

his

two

daughters,

ater

respectively

niversally

enowneds

Mesdames

Malibran

nd

Viardot.

In

1838 an

English

Opera

Company

was

established

ere

also

by

Mr. and

Mrs.

Seguin,

nd it

toured he States

extensively

ill

1847.

It was

this

ompany

hich,

n

June

,

1845,

produced

n

English,

t

the

Chestnut

treet

Theatre,

Philadelphia,

he

first

grand

opera

written

y a

genuine

American.

The

opera

in

question

was

'

Leonora

by

William

Henry

ry.

It

had

several

erformances,

nd

was revivedn NewYork n 1858. I havenever eenthe scoreof

this

opera,but

from

he

fact

ofits

having

eceived

he

attention

t

did

from

udienceswhich

ad

already

ttained

igh

ritical

tandards,

would

eem

to

point

o

its

having

ossessed

more han

verage

uali-

ties.

There

eems

o

have

been,

up to

this

period,

general

pward

tendency,

nd if

America ad

remained

rueto

herself

reat

hings

in

opera

might

ave

been

accomplished

here.

There

was

no

lack

of

knowledge,

alent,

nd

above

all,

money.

n

the

country,

ut

with

t

all,

America

was

still

ittle

etter han

a

province f

England. If

all

had been goingwell in the lattercountryhat would not have

mattered

ery

much,

but

under

the

blighting

nfluence

f

Queen

Victoria,

er

Consort,

nd

her

Court,

he

whole

f

Great

Britain,

s

well

as

her

Colonies

(past

and

present),

nd

dependencies

ere

entirely

nder

foreign

omination,

articularly

n

the

matter

f

art.

Thus,

during

he

entire

econd

alf

of

the

nineteenth

entury

e

find

that

the

only

music

hat

was

considered

s

having

right

o

rank

s

music

t

all

was

that

f

talian

or

German

especially

erman)

rigin.

The

United

States

of

America

were

here

repeating

he

tactical

rror

committedy theMotherCountry fewgenerationsarlier,when

the

musical

ognoscenti

f

England

n

masse,

fell

upon

the

neck

of

Handel

and

allowed

is

opera

o

cut

right

cross

he

music

dramas

f

Purcell

and

his

school,

thus

setting

ack

the

hands

of

the

native

operatic

lock

nearly

century

nd

a

half.

The

history f

opera

n

America

rom

850

till

1900,

therefore,

is

merely

ne

long

succession

f

seasons

of

foreign

orks

ystemati-

cally

rendered

y

foreign

rtistes.

In

September,

1855,

George

Bristow

had

an

opera

'

Rip

Van

Winkle

staged

in

New

York,

and

in April, 863,a secondoperabyWilliamH. Fry,entitled Notre

Dame

de

Paris,'

was

produced

t

the

Academy

f

Music

in

Phila-

delphia;

and

then

nothing

even

approaching

national

spect

appeared

ill

February

1,

1896,

when

n

opera

ntitled

The

Scarlet

Letter,'

by

Walter

Damrosch,

was

given

at

the

Boston

Theatre,



4/10

AMERICAN

OPERA

149

Boston,Mass.

By

this

time,

he

American

omposer

as

beginning

to

assert

himself

n otherbranches

f the

art,

but,

whether

he

Metropolitanndforeignnfluenceenerally as toostrong orhim,

or

whether

is

own

natural

diffidenice

ept

him n the

background,

itis

not

easy

to

say,but

the

native

pera

omposer

merged

o

slowly

as

to

constitutelmost

negative

actor

ltogether

n

the

progress

of

opera

production

n

America.

There

exist

records

f

an

opera

entitled

In

Old

Japan,'

by

V.

Thompson

nd

A;me

Lachaume,

presumably

mericans,

aving

been

produced

n New

York n

1897,

and on

January 1,

1906,

an

opera

by

Frederick

.

Converse,

ntitled

'

The

Pipe of

Desire,'received ts

first

erformance

t Jordon

all,

Boston. Thisoperawasdestined omakehistorywoyears ater, or,

on

March

8,

1908,

t

was

repeated

t

the

Metropolitan

pera

House,

New

York, nd

was

the

first

enuineAmerican

pera

o be

presented

there.

All

the

principals,

ith

ne

exception,

ere f

American

irth.

There

were

Louise

Homer,

Riccardo

Martin, larence

Whitehill

nd

Herbert

Witherspoon;he

exception

eingLenora

Sparks,

n

English

vocalist.

On

August

9,

1910,

n

opera

Paoletta,'

y

P. F.

Floridia,

was

produced

n

Cincinnati,

.,

and

that

concludes he

very

meagre

record

f

American

pera

down

o

the

end

of

1910.

In thatyear,however, ignorGatti-Casazza ecame ole director

of

the

Metropolitan

pera

House

in

New

York,

nd

with

hat

event

commenced

hat

may,

so

far

as

opera

s

concerned,

e

regardeds

the

age

of

enlightenment.

his

may

not

be

immediately

pparent

and

t

s

certainly

ot

o

in

any

sudden

r

sustained

ncrease

f

purely

American

pera

production,

ut

t

soon

became

recognised

act

hat

no

work

would

be

rejected

imply

ecause

of

its

American

rigin,

and

that

uality

nd

general

uitability

or

Metropolitan

equirements

were

to

be

the

sole

requirements

n

connection

ith

he

production

ofoperathere. The effectfthis s onlynowbeginningobe felt,

but

he

mmediate

esults

were

ecidedly

appy,

s

the

nminds

f

many

of

the

ablest

f

America's

omposers

ere

gradually

urned

nto

what

may

be

called

operatic

hannels,

nd

steady

rogress

as

since

been

made

towards

hat

must,

ooner

r

ater,

merges

a

truly

American

national

pera.

It

is

a

little

aradoxical

erhaps

hat

the

first

pera

to

be

produced

n

this

new

atmosphere,

ictor

Herbert's

Natoma

(February

25,

1911),

should

have

been

given

by

the

Chicago-

Philadelphia

pera

Company,

inder

he

direction

f

Andreas

ippel,

SignorGatti-Casazza's ormerartner, ut it was onlya necessary

and

nevitable

evelopmentf

the

new

conditions

hat

were

beginning

to

force

themselves

upon

everybody

concerned.

'

Natoma

was

followed

y

A.

Perelli's

'A

Lover's

Quarel

at

Philadelphia,

n

March

6,

1911,

and

H.

W.

Parker's

Mona'

at

the

New

York



5/10

150

MUSIC

AND

ILETTERS

Metropolitan,

n

March

14,

only

one week

later.

Then

on

February

7,

1913,

the

Metropolitan

aw

the

first

erformance

f

another perabyWalterDamrosch, Cyrano e Bergerac,' nd on

January

4,

1914,

of

Victor

lerbert's

ne-act

pera,

Madeline.'

A

prize

offered

y

the

Los

Angeles

Opera

Association

rought

orth

work

entitled

Fairyland,'

by

IT.

W. Parker

and Brian

Hooker,

produced

t

Los

Angeles

n

July

,

1915,

nd,

probably

s

an

outcome

of

the same

stimulus,

n

opera

entitled

Apollo,'

by

Edward

F.

Schneider,

was

given

on

August

7,

1915,

at

Bohemnian

rove,

California.

On

March

,

1917,

Reginald

e

Koven's

The

Canterbury

Pilgrims'

was

produced

t the

Metropolitan,

nd on

December

6,

1917, Arthur adley's 'Azora,' by the ChicagoOperaAssociation,

while

two

days

later,

Henry

K.

Hadley

was

awarded he

Hinshaw

Prize for

his

opera

Bianca,'

and in

less

thana

fortnight

fter

hat,

Arthur

Nevin's

one-act

pera,

Daughter

f

the

Forest,'

was

also

producedn

Chicago.

On

March

3,

1918,

CharlesWakefield

adman

appeared

as

a

composer

of

opera

at

the

Metropolitan,with

'

Shanewis,'

nd,

n a

double

ill

at

the

same

theatre,

n

March

12,

1919,

'

The

Legend,'

by

Joseph

Breil,

and

'

The

Temple

Dancer,'

by

J.

A.

Hugo, were

given.

And

then

in

rapid

succession

ame

Reginaldde Koven's Rip Van Winkle,'Arthur adley's exquisite

'

Cleopatra's

Night and

Charles

W.

Cadman's

'

The

Sunset

Trail.'

This

brings

s

down

to

the

year

1921,

and

there

perforce

e

are

compelled,or

ack

of

material, o

make

somewhat

rolonged

ause.

It

was

clearly

bviouso

all

who

had

taken

he

east

trouble

o

study

the scores

and

tendencies

f

these

works,

hat

there

was,

from

beginningo

end, a

distinct

nd

conscious

rge

owards

he

formation

and

evolution

f

a

pronounced

nd

distinctive

merican

diom,

but,

while

here

was

evinced

n

most,

f

not

all,

of

the

operas,

alent

nd

to spare,therewas a sad lack of real creativegenius. Without

exception, he

diction

mployed

was

mere

conscious

r

unconscious

imitation

f

talian,

German,

rench,

r

at

the

worst)

nglish

tyles.

The

simple

fact

of

an

opera

having

an

American

ubject,

or

an

American

omposer,

nd/or

ibrettist,

oes

not

give

that

opera

the

right

o

be

regarded

s

distinctively

merican

n

generic

lassification.

And

t

was

ust

this

particular

istinction

hat

the

operatic

powers-

that-be,'

with

ll

the

encouragementn

the

world,

ould

not

supply.

And

t

was

probably

hrough

he

ack

of

that,

hat,

o

far

s

production

went,Americanperawas allowed o lie fallow or evenyears fter

the

first

performance

f

'

Cleopatra's

Night

in

1920.

But

there

never

has

lived

an

impressario

who

has

taken

his

responsibilities

more

seriously

han

Signor

Gatti-Casazza

nd,

during

hese

barren

years,

he

no

doubt

ave

the

subject

f

American

pera

many

n

hour's

deep



6/10

AMERICAN

OPERA

151

and

earnest

onsideration.

nd

the

result

f

his

cogitations

as

seen,

when, n the

spring

f

1925,

he

andMr.

Kahn,

who

s

the

financial

propof the New YorkMetropolitanpera Company,nterviewed

Mr.

Deems

Taylor,

nd

requested

im o write

n

opera

for

roduction

in

their

world-renowned

peraHouse.

Mr.

Deems

Taylor

s

a

native of

New

York and

was born

on

December

2,

1895. He was

educated n

the

Ethical

Culture

chool,

and

University,

f New

York,

nd

he

studied

armony

nd

counter-

point under Mr.

Oscar

Coon,

but

was

largely

self-taughtn

composition

nd

orchestration.

efore

ntering

he

operatic

ield, e

had donea gooddeal ofcompositionn choral nd orchestral usic.

He

had

originally

aken

p

ournalism,

s

a

career,

owever,

nd

was

assistant

ditor

f he Western

lectric

News

rom

912

to

1916,

when

he

wenft

broad s

war

correspondent

orThe

Sunday

Tribune.

He

was

then,

fora

time,

associate

editor

f

Collier's

Weekly,

nd

in

1921,

he

succeeded

amesG.

Huneker s

the

music

ritic f

The

New

York

World.

We

have

it

on

the

authority

f

the

composer

imself

that his

criticismsf

the

operas

that

were

then

being

habitually

performed

t

the

Metropolitan

ere

o

drastic

hatMr.

Gatti-Casazza

simply hallenged imto write better ne himself,f he could.

With

full

confidence

n

the

soundness,

nd

the

courage,

f

his

con-

victions,

r.

Deems

Taylor,

without

more

do,

picked

p

the

gauntlet

and

immediately

et

to

work.

His

first

opera,

'

The

King's

Henchman,'

produced

at

the

Metropolitan

pera

House,

New

York,

under he

direction

f

Tullio

Serafin,

n

February

7,

1927,

was

the

result.

Its

success

was

instantaneous

nd,

duringts

first

season,

t

was

accorded ix

performances

n

New

York

and

one

in

Philadelphia. t

was

freely

sserted

that

here

was

the

genuine

Americanpera t last,andsowell atisfied asSignorGatti-Casazza

with

the

experiment

hat

he

forthwith

ommissioned

he

composer

to

supply

second

pera

o

be

ready

n

two

years'

time,

nd

this

work

duly

materialised

n

'

Pefer

Ibbetson,'

ikewise

produced

t

the

Metropolitan

pera

House,

New

York, n

the

autumn f

1930,

with

even

greater

acclamation

nd

success

than

was

gained

by

its

predecessor.

The

question

n

view

of

these

facts,

then

remains,

Has

the

Americanpera t lastarrived? Andperhaps heonly nswer hat

comes

within

easonable

distance

f

the

truth

s

'

Yes

and

No

Taking

broad

viewof

the

existing

chools f

opera,

he

experienced

critic

r

student

an,

from

articular

xamples,

eadily

detect

he

national

haracteristics

hich

distinguish

ach

from

ll

the

others.

Italian,

French,

German,

nglish

nd

Russian

opera,

ach

taken

n



7/10

152

MUSIC:

AND

LETTERS

the

mass,

contains

ertain

ubtle

ndnot

easily

definable,

et

clearly

recognisable

diomatic

nd

musical ttributes

hich

do not

apply

to

anyof theothers,ndwhich reso decisively arked s to leaveno

room

fordoubt

s to the

particular

ategory

nto

which

ny

selected

specimen

ught to

be

included.

But

has there

yet

emerged

n

operatic

chool fthis

order

hat an

be classed

s

being

distinctively

American?

The

answer o

this

question

must,

think,

e

decidedly

in

the

negative.

That

it will

eventually

ppear

there

s not

the

slightest

eason

o

doubt,

ut

t

can

hardly

e

expected

o

arrive

or

another

wo or

three

generations

t

least.

Until

there

exists

a

distinctively

onsolidated

ative

American

opulation,

herecan

be

evolved purelyAmericanchoolneither fliterature or ofopera.

But,

with

the

introduction

f

the

immigration

uota

system,

he

present

tate

of

ethnological

lux

will

now

practically

ease.

The

elements

f

the

melting-pot

ust

lready

ave

begun o

coalesce

nd

combine,

ust

as

the

heterogeneous

lements

radually

ombirned

o

form

the

original

English

race

a

thousand

years

ago;

and

an

absolutely

istinctive

ational

ntity

will

emerge

herefrom

s

the

pure and

unsullied

American

ace.

Then,

and

only

then,

can

the

essential

ational

merican

ovel,

rama r

opera

ppear n

all

its

own

independent ormand purity. One can only expecta strictly

differentiated

merican

pera

from

completely

onsolidated

rnd

definitely

istinctive

merican

eople.

Yet,

as I

have

shown,

here

has

been,

hroughout

he

recent

istory

f

opera

n

America,

distinct

and

conscious

endency

owards

he

creation

f

an

indigenous

nd

strictly

ational

diom,

nd if

the

two

works

f

Deems

Taylor

how

only he

earliest

ndication

f

the

reation

f

that

diom

t

may

ruly

e

asserted

hat

American

pera

has

arrived.

The twooperasofMr. DeemsTaylor re unquestionablyhebest

native

works n

that

genre

that

America

as

yet

produced.

But

it

would

e

futile

o

claim

for

hem

he

right

oa

place

n

the

front

ank

of

operatic

achievement.

The

'

book

of

'

The

King's

Henchman'

in

particular

ay

passas

a

fair

xample f

the

average

pera

ibretto,

which,

s

literature,

anks

ery

ow.

We

are

told

that

the

ibrettist,

Miss Edna

St.

Vincent

Millay,

s

'

cutstanding

mong

American

lyric

poets,'

but if

'

The

King's

Henchman

is

characteristic

f

her

work,we

can

only

deplore

he

ow

tandard

f

creative

yricism

n

her

country.Theworks grievouslyackingn thehigh eriousnessnd

grand

manner,

hich-the

resent

rreverence

hat

s

so

ostentatiously

shown,

n

season

and

out

of

season,

towards

Matthew

Arnold,

ot-

withstanding-still

onstitute

he

prime

ssentials

n

every

genuine

work

f

art.

At

page

36

of

the

vocal

score,

for

xample,

adgar

of



8/10

AMERICAN

OPERA

153

Wessex,

King

of

England,

ddressing

ethelwold,

arlof

East

Anglia,

does

so

in

these

xtraordinaryerms:

I knowhou'rtoath ogo,

Nor

would ask t

of

hee,

Aethelwold,

But

being

o

beset

with rksome

usiness,

I

cannot tirfrom

my stool.

And

wixt

hee nd

me

. . .

A

scurf

pon

hese

lerlksf

Dunstan

By

Odin's

foot,

an

fed to the

neck

with them

And

gain,

five

agesfurther

n,

he

assures

he

earl

that

Thou

rtnot ike o

go

giddy,

nd

swoon rom

orse,

At

the

first

imple

hou

ightest

n

a

Devonshire

own,

AndAethelwold,ot to be outdone n his knowledgef twentieth

century

merican

lang,

lthough

iving

n

the tenth

entury

which

no

doubtthe

poetess

considers

mere

detail

and

a

matter

f

no

consequence

hatever),

nquires

f

the

king

nd

his

wife:

Do

ye

get

what

I

say?

That

sort

of

thing

will

never

do. It is

all

very

well

to assert

one's

modernity,

ndependencef

conventionality

nd

contempt

f

so-called

'old-fogeyness,'

ut

tyle

s

style

ll

the

world

ver,

nd

the

employ-

ment fsuchtermsn a work fartof ostensiblehigh eriousness

is

merely

provincial,'

nd

lays

the

perpetrator

pen

to

the

charge

of

gnorancend

vulgarity,

ot

always

without

ause.

The

musical

treatmentf

both

works,

however,

s

tactful

nd

restrained,ut

the

score

of

'

Peter

Ibbetson

shows

a

growing

confidence

nd

greater

ertainty

f

purpose

han

s evidence'd

n its

predecessor.

t

is

undoubtedly,

n

every

espect,

hebetter

pera

of

the

two. Yet

the

manner

f

treatment

s

in

both

ases similar.

The

composer

pparently

s

obsessed

with

the modern

read

of

being

consideredoomelodic o far s hisoriginal orks concerned,uthe

cleverly

works in

the

folk-song

method in

the

fashion of

Dr.

Vaughan

Williams. In

both

productions,

t is

successful

nd

highly

ffective,

ut

it is

a

trick

hat

can

very

easilybe

overdone

and

vulgarised,

nd

it

is no

longer

riginal.

Any

attempto

impart

local

colour

o

the

score

by

such

meansis

too

obvious o

deceive

anyone,

besides

being,

particularly

n

the

case

of

such

an

opera

as

'

The

King's

Henchman,'

n

anachronism

f

the

most

blatant

nd

glaring

escription.

t

is

altogether

uestionable

hether

he

oldest

folk-songn existences fivehundred earsold,and themajorityf

them

re

not

nearly

half

o

ancient s

that.

Any

composer,

ho s

worthyf

the

nameat

all,

will

have

no

difficultyn

creating

is

own

colour

chemesf

onlyhe

willset

his

mind

honestlyo

the

task, nd

the colour

he

creates

will,

am

convinced,

rove

many

imes

more



9/10

154

MUSIC AND

L1TTERS

effective

han

all the borrowed

o-called

ocalcolour

hateither

olk-

themes

r

extra-national

dioms

an ever

upply.

And

have

too

high

an opinion fthe talent ndskillofMr. DeemsTaylor obelieve hat

any

such

extraneous

ids

are

necessary

o

enable

him

to

produce

n

opera

that

may be English

n

subject

nd

colour,

ike

The

King's

Henchman,'

r

French,

ike

Peter

bbetson,'

yet,

by

reasonof

its

idiomatic

riginality

nd

individuality,rove

to be

the

first

eal

American

pera

that

was

ever

composed.

Who,

for

example, hat

knows

nything

f

what

the

term

nationality

n

music

implies

could

doubtfor

a

moment he

French

nationality

f

'

Samson

and

Delilah,'

yet

question

he

appropriateness

f

themusic o

the

Hebrew

story? But ' Carmen,' n the otherhand,is neither renchnor

Spanish.

In the

former

nstance,

he

composer

as

true

o

himself,

conceding

othing

o

Jewish

emands;

whereasBizet

attemptedhe

impossible

n

his

affectation

fwhat

he

thought

as a

Spanish

diom,

to

fit

n

opera

hat,

n

form

nd

atmosphere,

ould

never

e

anything

but

French.

If,

therefore,

he

American

pera

composer

ill

simply

steep

himselfn

the

iterary,

istorical

nd

psychological

spects f

his

subject,without

worrying

oo much

about

the

musical

ide of

the

question t

first,

nd

then

llowhis

own

psychological

nd

traditional

judgmentnd attitudeso follown theirownparticularhannels,

he

will

find,f

he is an

artist

t

all,

that

he

resultswill

not be far

short f

the

ideal

perfection,nd

the

genuine

American

pera

will

thennot

be

far o

seek.

Nationality

n

opera in

Europe,

since

Wagner,

Moussorgsky,

Rimsky-Korsakov,

erdi,

nd,

f

you

will,

Puccinii,

as

fallen

little

stale.

France,

England,

ndthe

various

new

nationalities

ave,

so

far,

given

us

little

more

han

weak

mitations

f

the

great

masters,

and

even

these

have

been

spasmodic

nd

inconsequential.

f

course

therehas takenplace in CentralEurope during ecentyearsthe

movement

hich

has

produced

hat,

n

Russia,

s

called

proletarian

opera,

and

has

resulted

n

such

extraordinary

roductions

s

Alban

Berg's

'

Wozzeck

and

Max

Brand's

'

Maschinist

Hopkins.'

These

are

undoubtedly

orks

f

genius,

nd

the

movements

one

to

be

reckoned

ith

n

any

general

stimate

f

the

trends

f

operatic

development,

ut

their

ignificance,

reat

nd

startling

s

it

is,

and

far-reaching

ts

possibilities,

s,

whatever

lse it

may

be,

decidedly

not

national.

One

wonders

little

where

xactly

he

next

epoch-

making pera

will

appearand,while t wouldbe perhapsnotquite

accurate

o

assert

hat

the

eyes

of

Europe

are

fixed

n

America,

t

is

certainly

fact

hat

ome

of

us

who

re

specially

tudiousn

these

matters

re

absolutely

onvinced

hat,

ooner

r

later,

America

will,

in

matters

peratic,

urprise

he

world.

The

answer

o

the

question,



10/10

AMERICAN

OPERA

155

Has

American

pera

rrived?

is still

more

n

the

region

f

No

'

than

'

Yes

'

but

the

way

is

being

steadily

prepared

for its

advent

and proper eception hen t does arrive,f onlybytheknowledge

and

experience

hat

omposers

re pilinor

p

upon

he

things

hat

hey

ought

notto

do.

It

cannot,

f

course,be

too

often

epeated hat

there

an

be no

American

pera

until

heres a

pure nid

istinctive

American

people-only

half-baked

nid

immature

mattercan

be

extracted

rom he

pot

while he

ngredients

re

still

n the

process

of

melting-andwe

must

exercise

patience.

There is,

however,

nothing

urer

han

thefact

hat

he

futture

f

opera

ies

largely

with

America.

WILLIAM SAUNDERS.

american opera, has it arrived?

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