CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY IN MUSIC, DANCE, AND FILM 715that Galatea be changed back into a statue once again. In the same spirit is an
operetta by Henri Christine, Phi-Phi (1918). Phi-Phi is the nickname of the fa-
mous sculptor Pheidias; but this treatment of the historical Pheidias, Pericles,
and Aspasia belongs to the realm of legend.
Operetta has had an important history. For the classicist, we may isolate
from the works of Gilbert and Sullivan the obscure Thespis, which is on a Greek
and Roman theme. Yet, in this genre, Americans have made their own striking
contribution to musical theater; and in its brashness or in its earnestness the
American musical has developed a characteristic style and coloring all its own,
as we shall see in the next section.
THE AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION
Who Is an American Composer? The complex questions of who is an American
composer and whether or not characteristics peculiar to American music and
dance can be identified are conveniently and justifiably answered by a profound
quip made by the renowned American composer and critic Virgil Thomson: "It's
very easy to write American music. All you need to be is American, and then
write any kind of music you wish."^7 American composers, and choreographers
as well, must be identified as those who are American citizens, either by birth
or naturalization; also included are some who never became American citizens
at all but who, nevertheless, have established such a career in America that in-
evitably one must categorize them as American. To give but one example, Gian
Carlo Menotti (the composer of Martha Graham's dance, Errand into the Maze)
is rightfully considered an American composer since his lengthy career has been
based in the United States; yet he has never given up his Italian citizenship, and
he now lives in a castle in Scotland.
The American Debt to Greece and Rome. Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) epito-
mized the spirit of many American composers:^8
Of course my music is eclectic; all music is. Any composer's writing is the sum of him-
self, of all his roots and influences. I have deep roots, each different from one another.
They are American, Jewish, and cosmic in the sense they come from the great tradition
of all music. I have been as influenced by Handel and Haydn as by jazz, folk songs, Has-
sidic melodies, or prayers I heard as I child. My music is not one or the other but a mix-
ture of all. I can only hope it adds up to something you could call universal.^8Bernstein might well have added the powerful influence of Greece and
Rome. He himself has composed a Serenade, after Plato's Symposium, an orches-
tral work with sections bearing the names of Phaedrus, Pausanias, Aristophanes,
Erixymachus, Agathon, Socrates, and Alcibiades. Considered by many to be one
of the finest of Bernstein's classical works, it was performed as a ballet choreo-
graphed by Herbert Ross. In his notes for the piece, Bernstein wrote: "If there is
a hint of jazz in the celebration, I hope that it will not be taken as anachronistic