"The Bay Psalm Book" was the first music published in America. Published in 1640, it contained new translations of many of the Bible's psalms that colonists could sing during their religious services. Most early American composers emulated styles coming out of Europe and didn't add anything new in terms of form and substance; but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American composers began to integrate jazz and ragtime styles into their classical music, giving American music and new sound of its own. In the 1980s, American composers leaned toward a modernist, atonal style, but this style was more of a return to European influence rather than a departure from it.
The earliest type of American music was religious music, following the major influence of the colonial times. The pilgrims who first came to America brought copies of religious music with them. They made selections from this European music and changed some of it to suit their own tastes and preferences.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, American classical music followed European music very closely. The first Beethoven symphony was played in the United States in 1817, and American composers tried to copy Beethoven's style.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, American classical music found its own voice when Scott Joplin, Aaron Copland and George Gershwin produced music influenced by African Americans and jazz music. Jazz-inspired classical music was unique to the United States and became quite influential around the world.
Modernist classical music, produced in America during the 1980s, sounds atonal and pessimistic. John Cage influenced this movement, but many people didn't like the pessimistic feel of the music. Philip Glass and others revived traditional classical music as a backlash to the modernist music.
Scott Joplin was an African American composer of the late 19th century. His music is strongly influenced by ragtime, but he also wrote operas and a ballet. Joplin helped to rejuvenated American popular music and changed the musical tastes of many European Americans.
During his short 39-year lifespan, George Gershwin added greatly to the American classical movement. The son of Russian Jewish immigrant parents, he grew up in New York but studied music in Paris for a time. In addition to concert hall music, Gershwin also composed music for Broadway shows and Hollywood movies.
Aaron Copland looked to American folk songs for inspiration and often included traditional folk melodies in his orchestral music. Like Gershwin, Copland studied in Paris for a short time before returning to the United States and applying traditional European music skills to his unique American culture.
American classical music has benefited from its country's unique population. As immigrants have flooded America's shores, they have brought their musical traditions from around the world. In addition to African American jazz and ragtime influences, American classical music has benefited from foreign composers who have fled their native lands because of political upheaval. Igor Stravinsky and Arnold Shoenberg became American composers when they emigrated to the United States during the 20th century.
As foreign influence continues to change the makeup of the United States, American classical music will continue to embrace sounds from around the world. Building on the European tradition which has shaped American music for centuries, sounds from all times and places are finding their ways into symphonies and songs. For example, American cellist Yo-yo Ma has produced CDs featuring Asian sounds, some from as far back as the Silk Road that connected Asia to Europe and Africa in the early Middle Ages. As the world becomes smaller, thanks to communications technology, American classical music will continue to embrace the traditions of all its many peoples.