While hundreds of operas were composed by American women during the twentieth century, very few people, even seasoned operatic performers and audiences, know of their existence. Most of these operas have not been performed beyond their regional or private premieres, and little is written about them in sources addressing the topics of women composers, twentieth century opera, or American opera. Therefore, those responsible for programming them in educational and professional opera companies have had limited exposure to these works. My focus is on ten composers and a total of nineteen of their operas, providing short biographies about these women (Joyce Barthelson, Mary E. Caldwell, Vivian Fine, Eleanor Everest Freer, Miriam Gideon, Libby Larsen, Mary Carr Moore, Julia Smith, Faye-Ellen Silverman, and Nancy Van de Vate) and entries for each of their featured works. These listings detail the resources required for programming the operas, such as the types of voices and instruments needed, as well as musical styles and salient features within the work. In addition to addressing the components of the operas as a whole, six arias extracted from the nineteen works are examined closely, illuminating common themes that unite these operas. Prejudices and stereotypes concerning the perceived inferiority of the creations of women composers have helped to keep these works unknown, but by making these operas more accessible, by analyzing their possible performance difficulties and by simply bringing these works into the light, it is hoped that they may have a greater chance of being performed and studied in the future. / text

William Henry Fry (1813-1864) and George Frederick Bristow (1825-1898) were the first important composers of grand opera in the United States. They were both avid promoters of American music and American composers during a most unstable time in American history--the mid-nineteenth century just prior to the American Civil War.The present study includes in Chapter I a survey of American culture in the mid-nineteenth century, and in Chapters II and III, brief biographical sketches of W. H. Fry and G. F. Bristow. The main aim of the study has been to explore American culture during the period of approximately 1845 to 1855, and then to show that W. H. Fry's opera Leonora and G. F. Bristow's opera Rip Van Winkle are products of that culture. A general musical analysis of the two operas under consideration is given as evidence of their relationship to the Italian operatic style of the mid nineteenth century. An attempt has been made to find specific examples in both Leonora and Rip Van Winkle that canbe shown to be reflections of the musical culture of Europe with which Fry and Bristow were familiar. The main characteristics of Italian opera, such as: melodramatic plots, popular-type melodies, expressive solo voice, orchestral coloratura sections (particularly for the prima donna), and colorful folk-like songs in this work.Fry was one of the leaders of his time in asserting the thesis that Americans, if they were ever going to develop a native art, must escape their subservience to foreign influence. The irony of the situation is that Fry himself was not able to break away from the European influence in his opera Leonora, except in his use of the English language.George Frederick Bristow, whose life spanned almost the entire nineteenth and the beginnings of American culture.Bristow's opera Rip Van Winkle is written in a style one would expect from a nineteenth-century musician. He tended to write music that was basically diatonic with a spice of chromaticism. Many of the arias, and most of the choruses, are presented in a simple, straightforward style which tends to give the opera a folk-like quality, while some other arias are in an ABA structure, and fit the style of Italian operatic arias of the time. A few of Bristow's melodies are in the French style of the period--that is, they are dance-like in character--and therefore are significant reminders that he was also familiar with nineteenth century French opera.What interest there was in opera in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century was focused primarily on Italian opera, and William Henry Fry and George Frederick Bristow wrote operas in that style.