Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Floyd
Carlisle Floydis an American opera composer. The son of a Methodist minister, he has based many of his works on themes from the South. His best known opera, Susannah, is based on a story from the Biblical Apocrypha, transferred to contemporary, rural Tennessee, and is set in a Southern dialect...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionComposer
Date of Birth11 June 1926
CityLatta, SC
CountryUnited States of America
basketball school great-love
I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great love for music and literature and the theater.
answers sound comfort
What is American music? The most satisfying answer I've come across is that it was a kind of natural comfort with the vernacular which is diverse and regional; it's not one particular set of sounds.
europe opera phenomenon
When I've seen my operas in Europe, they have always struck me as more American than when I hear them here. I can't tell you what that phenomenon is.
thinking shapes scene
I find it enormously valuable to be sure that that the pacing is what I think it is and that the scenes have the shape I think they have musically and dramatically.
opera ifs felt
If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.
mother father
I was encouraged by my mother and, to a lesser extent, by my father.
successful artist compliment
If something is successful with the audience, it's automatically suspect; the reverse is to say that not to reach audiences is the greatest compliment an artist can receive!
writing age lasts
You can't possibly predict what will last or not. But once you attempt to write for the ages, you're doomed.
america democracy levels
There is something inherent in our democracy that tends to want to level. America is a little uncomfortable in the presence of someone who is distinctly superior in whatever way.
musical pieces serious
If an American audience is given a serious musical theater piece that is well produced, dramatically gripping and wonderfully acted, they'll respond to it.
black-and-white thinking views
We think the Puritans always dressed in black and white, which they didn't. They loved very bright colors. And there were other differences in perceptions that gave one a very different view of them.
fall people elements
People in very high places suddenly fall, and we are always surprised because we don't factor in the basic element that they're humans and, therefore, they are flawed and have weaknesses.
artist america outsiders
The artist is something of an outsider in America. I have always felt that America does not value its artists, certainly not in the sense that the Europeans do.
men want stories
The story of Willie Stark fascinated me because it was tackling the story of a man who outwardly has all the success one could possibly want and who is destroyed by his personal demons.