American Indian opera
Encyclopedia
American Indian opera is a sub-genre of American music
. It began with composer Gertrude Bonnin
(1876-1938), also known as Zitkala-Sa ("Red Bird" in Lakota
). Bonnin's own Yankton Sioux heritage informed both her libretto and music for her opera The Sun Dance, a grand opera composed with Mormon musician William F. Hanson.
She performed and transcribed "Sioux melodies" to which they would add harmonies and lyrics. Because American Indian melodies were an exclusively oral enterprise, the transition from Indian to western grand opera was, according to Warburton, "like forcing a proverbial square peg into a round hole
." Yet, Bonnin and Hanson successfully managed the transition. She also incorporated American Indian singers and dancers into the opera.
The importance of Bonnin for American Indian grand opera cannot be underestimated. Few if any American Indian operas on American Indian themes, using indigenous performers, have been composed by American Indians since her era. This Yankton woman was most likely the first indigenous composer to accomplish the feat. It must be said that she was aided by William F. Hanson, who taught at Brigham Young University and continued to create works based on Native American themes.
Music of the United States
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...
. It began with composer Gertrude Bonnin
Zitkala-Sa
Gertrude Simmons Bonnin , better known by her pen name, Zitkala-Sa , was a Yankton Dakota writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist. She published in national magazines. With William F...
(1876-1938), also known as Zitkala-Sa ("Red Bird" in Lakota
Lakota language
Lakota is a Siouan language spoken by the Lakota people of the Sioux tribes. While generally taught and considered by speakers as a separate language, Lakota is mutually understandable with the other two languages , and is considered by most linguists one of the three major varieties of the Sioux...
). Bonnin's own Yankton Sioux heritage informed both her libretto and music for her opera The Sun Dance, a grand opera composed with Mormon musician William F. Hanson.
Significance
Unlike the "American Indianist" attempts at creating operas with American Indian themes (see selected list below) and written by non-Indians, Bonnin's opera, which premiered in 1913, was the work of an American Indian woman of musical advancement. After teaching music and studying violin at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music, Bonnin worked with Hanson to compose an American Indian opera.She performed and transcribed "Sioux melodies" to which they would add harmonies and lyrics. Because American Indian melodies were an exclusively oral enterprise, the transition from Indian to western grand opera was, according to Warburton, "like forcing a proverbial square peg into a round hole
Square peg in a round hole
A square peg in a round hole is an idiomatic expression which describes the unusualindividualist who could not fit into a niche of his society.-English literature:...
." Yet, Bonnin and Hanson successfully managed the transition. She also incorporated American Indian singers and dancers into the opera.
The importance of Bonnin for American Indian grand opera cannot be underestimated. Few if any American Indian operas on American Indian themes, using indigenous performers, have been composed by American Indians since her era. This Yankton woman was most likely the first indigenous composer to accomplish the feat. It must be said that she was aided by William F. Hanson, who taught at Brigham Young University and continued to create works based on Native American themes.
Selected "Indianist" Operas by non-indigenous composers
- Nevin, Arthur F.Arthur NevinArthur Nevin was an American composer, conductor, teacher and musicologist. Along with Charles Wakefield Cadman, Blair Fairchild, Charles Sanford Skilton, and Arthur Farwell, among others, he was one of the leading Indianist composers of the early twentieth century.-Biography:Born in Edgeworth,...
(1907). Poia, grand opera. Carnegie Hall. - Cadman, Charles WakefieldCharles Wakefield CadmanCharles Wakefield Cadman was an American composer.Cadman’s musical education, unlike that of most of his American contemporaries, was completely American. Born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, he began piano lessons at 13...
(1912). Daoma: Ramala (Land of Misty Water), opera in four acts. Metropolitan Opera, New York. -- This opera was written in collaboration with Francis La Flesche (Omaha), so it is a question whether it is any more "Indianist" than Zitkala-sa's work. See Sherry L. Smith, "Francis LaFlesche and the World of Letters." American Indian Quarterly 25.4 (2001): 579-603. - Freer, Eleanor EverestEleanor Everest FreerEleanor Everest Freer was an American composer and philanthropist.-Life:Eleanor Everest was born in Philadelphia, the daughter of Cornelius Everest and Ellen Amelia Everest, and studied singing in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi and composition with Benjamin Godard...
(1927). The Chilkoot Maiden, opera in one act. Skagway, Alaska. - Carter, Ernest TrowErnest Trow CarterErnest Trow Carter was an organist and composer.-Biography:He was born on September 3, 1866 in Orange, New Jersey to Aaron Carter and Sarah Swift Trow. At age seven, in 1873 he started eight years of study of piano and harmony, with Mary Bradshaw...
(1931). The Blonde Donna: The Fiesta at Santa Barbara, opera comique. Heckscher Theater, New York. - Smith, Julia FrancesJulia Smith (composer)Julia Frances Smith, PhD , was an American composer, pianist, and author on musicology.-Life and career:...
(1939). Cynthia Parker, opera in one act. North Texas State University, Denton.
American Indian opera by American Indian composers
- Bonnin, Gertrude, and Hanson, William F. (1913). The Sun Dance, grand opera. Premiered in Orpheus Hall, Vernal, UtahVernal, UtahVernal, Uintah County's largest city, is located in eastern Utah near the Colorado State Line, and 175 miles east of Salt Lake City. It is bordered on the north by the Uinta Mountains, one of the few mountains ranges in the world which lie in an east-west rather than the usual north to south...
.
See also
- Barbara McAlisterBarbara McAlister (opera singer)Barbara McAlister is an internationally acclaimed mezzo soprano Native American opera singer from Muskogee, Oklahoma.-Background:Barbara McAlister was born Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1941. She is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, a descendant of Old Tassel, and half German through her mother...
, Cherokee Nation mezzo soprano opera singer