American Song and Opera Repertoire from the Beginning of the 20th Century

This thesis is an overview of American song and opera repertoire from the beginning of the 20th century to the present and is conceived as an initial, brief look into this, in the Czech context still unknown, repertoire. This overview is meant to fill in information which is missing from Czech musicology and is meant primarily for singers wishing to include the works of American composers in their repertoire. The thesis is supposed to illustrate both the diversity and the general character of American song and opera repertoire and does so through an examination of the national character of American classical music, a brief history of American opera, a division of song composers into stylistic categories, and a selection of twenty-one American composers the singer should know