On Mar 12, 2005, at 8:29 AM, John Howell wrote:
Entirely my fault for not being clear in my statement. I was not thinking so much of imported European operetta, which as you point out very convincingly took place almost simultaneously with it's popularity in Europe, as I was of operettas written IN North America BY North Americans (or transplanted Europeans, like Victor Herbert, who settled here).
Aha, now I understand. In that case I think you're closer but still not quite right. American operetta didn't really get going until the 1890s, but there were predecessors in the 1880s and even 1870s.
De Koven had a couple of operettas in the late 1880s, before he hit it big with Robin Hood. Sousa's first operetta (Katherine) premiered in 1879, and he had a couple more in the 1880s. The earliest American operetta that I know is George Schleiffarth's "Cupid and Cupidity", which was from some time in the mid-1870s. I don't know which if any of these you'd consider in the "European" style.
In case anyone is wondering, I'm not especially a fan of any of these composers, but I'm a huge fan of lyricist Harry Bache Smith, who collaborated with all of them (and Herbert, Romberg, Lehar, Berlin, and Kern).
mdl
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