An American Style

Did you know that Washington's favorite opera was "The Beggar's Opera?"  It was written in 1728.  Sometimes I forget that a young American would experience music from Europe.

When I think of early America, I often do not think of opera (or semi opera) or any sort of instrumental performance.  I often just think of early singing schools, singing hymns and early American music.

What an interesting history America has with music.  One of the few westernized countries that does not nor has ever had a national conservatory of music.  In fact, rarely does the country sponsor any sort of music.  It took years for composers to find some sort of "American" style of music for their compositions- and Dvorak was the first composer to try to incorporate a national style into his symphony.  Oh, and Dvorak wasn't American.   He was doing it to try to inspire the American composers to embrace music that was American.  But the question had (and has) always been, "What is American music?  What's the American style?"

And I wonder, are national styles even distinctive now?  I don't know enough of contemporary works to have even a guess.