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
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.
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.