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
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.
art dust civilization
Our most intimate contact with civilizations long since dust has been through the art which has survived them.
writing kind found
I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.
art opera relevant
It seems to me opera is just as relevant as an expressive art as anything else.
deal great pitch singing speaking spoken strictly tried voice
I tried to use the voice so it was not strictly recitative or singing or spoken word. I tried a great deal of speaking on pitch and in rhythm.
distance easy either period pieces seem
It's very easy to distance yourself from period pieces because either through costuming or whatever, they don't seem to be as much of our time.
colleagues comments responses surrounded
If you are surrounded by colleagues you trust, and if you can use their comments and responses creatively, I think it's tremendous.
thinking lasts honestly
I think anything that is expressed directly and as honestly as possible will last.
country important composer
Most of the important composers in our country are clustered in the Northeast.