Since the 1890s, when Americans were beginning to develop their own traditions in classical music, composers have recognized the dilemma of creating the American sound. We will explore how classical musicians, and Broadway and Hollywood composers, most of them Jewish, followed parallel paths in creating sounds that reflect these lands and its people. Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, William Grant Steel, Florence Price, Alex North, Elmer Bernstein and others will be the protagonists of this lecture.