The author analyses the substantial contribution made by American composers to the development of twentieth-century opera. The methodological approach employed in this book is influenced by Mieczyslaw Tomaszewski’s method of integral interpretation. The operas analyzed in this monograph, written from 1976 onwards, represent a watershed in twentieth-century American opera, characterised by three main aspects: firstly, creation of video-opera, represented by the works of Steve Reich, secondly, creation of a new kind of opera based on topics related to contemporary events that are manifested with documentary fidelity, represented by works of John Adams, and lastly, the introduction of a new genre: a portrait opera, characteristic for the works of Philip Glass.

Joanna Miklaszewska, is Adjunct Professor at the University of Wroc?aw, in the Institute of Musicology. Her main fields of interest are: minimalism in Polish music, political opera, American music of the twentieth century and music lexicography. She is the author of several scientific publications on these topics and many entries in musical encyclopaedias.