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
Carlisle Floyd quotes about
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.
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.
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!
opera ifs felt
If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.
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.
doe different something-new
Anyone who creates something new or does something different artistically is going to be singled out.
writing would-be appalachia
I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references.
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.
voice singing trying
I was trying to do something that seemed very natural and easy but which bridged that gulf between the singing voice and the speaking voice.
writing sight people
It's amazing how fast generations lose sight of other generations. One of the first things the young composers who come to work with me say is that they want to write music people will like, instead of gaining their credentials by being rejected by the audience.
character two track
It's necessary to track characters all the way through an opera. If you're dealing with more than one or two characters, it's very easy to forget that the others have lives of their own that feed into the story.
personality outsiders elements
Socially I never was an outsider. I have never thought of the conflict element before frankly, but perhaps it was wanting to belong, and at the same time wanting to retain one's own personality.
years together opera
The performances of my works in the last 10 years are probably equal to all the previous years put together. There are so many venues now and there is a completely new public for opera that's grown up outside of the traditional core opera public.
artist america talent
America tends to worship the modest talent because it doesn't put us in an uncomfortable position vis-a-vis the artist.