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Carlisle Floyd (1926-2021)

Carlisle Floyd was one of the foremost composers and librettists of opera in the United States today. He earned B.M. and M.M. degrees in piano and composition Syracuse University, and began his teaching career in 1947 at Florida State University, remaining there until 1976, when he accepted the prestigious M. D. Anderson Professorship in the University of Houston. In addition, he is co-founder with David Gockley of the Houston Opera Studio jointly created by the University of Houston and Houston Grand Opera. Floyd’s operas are regularly performed in the US and Europe. He first achieved national prominence with the New York premiere of his opera, Susannah (1953–54), by the New York City Opera in 1956 after its world premiere at Florida State University in 1955. In 1957 it won the New York Music Critic’s Circle Award and subsequently was chosen to be America’s official operatic entry at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. Of Mice and Men (1969) is Floyd’s other most often performed work. In the 1998-99 season alone it was presented by New York City Opera, Utah Opera, San Diego Opera, and Cleveland Opera. Based on the Steinbeck novel, it was commissioned by the Ford Foundation and was given its premiere by the Seattle Opera in 1970. Floyd’s more recent operas, Bilby’s Doll (1976) and Willie Stark (1981), were both commissioned and produced by the Houston Grand Opera, the latter in association with the Kennedy Center.
 - Roven Records

COMPOSITIONS                                                            Floyd Links     ~ ~ ~     Works by Genre   ~ ~ ~   Composer on Composer
[under construction]
Five Early Songs, voice and piano (1944-48)
[Unfinished monodrama], voice and [piano?] (????)
Slow Dusk, musical play in 1 act (1949)
The Fugitives, stage work (1951; unfinished)
Susannah, musical drama in 2 acts (1955)
Pilgrimage, song cycle, baritone and orchestra (1956) [text: various biblical]
Piano Sonata (1957)
Wuthering Heights, musical drama in 3 acts (1958)
The Mystery, song cycle, soprano and orchestra (1960) [text: Gabriela Mistral]
The Passion of Jonathan Wade, opera in 3 acts (1962; rev. 1991)
The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair, comic opera in 1 act (1963)
Markheim, opera in 1 act (1966)
Introduction, Aria, and Dance, orchestra (1967)
Of Mice and Men, musical drama in 3 acts (1970)
In Celebration, orchestra (1971)
Flower and Hawk, monodrama in 1 act (1972)
Bilby's Doll, opera in 3 acts (1976)
Willie Stark, opera in 3 acts (1981)
Citizen of Paradise, song cycle, mezzo-soprano and piano (1983) [text: Emily Dickinson]
Flourishes, orchestra (1987)
A Time to Dance, baritone, chorus and orchestra (1994)
Soul of Heaven, song cycle, voice and piano (1995) [text: various authors]
Cold Sassy Tree, comic opera in 3 acts (2000)
Prince of Players, opera in 2 acts (2016)


WORKS BY GENRE                                                            Floyd Links     ~ top of page ~
[under construction]
Dramatic/Theater
[Unfinished monodrama], voice and [piano?] (????)
Slow Dusk, musical play in 1 act (1949)
The Fugitives, stage work (1951; unfinished)
Susannah, musical drama in 2 acts (1955)
Wuthering Heights, musical drama in 3 acts (1958)
The Passion of Jonathan Wade, opera in 3 acts (1962; rev. 1991)
The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair, comic opera in 1 act (1963)
Markheim, opera in 1 act (1966)
Of Mice and Men, musical drama in 3 acts (1970)
Flower and Hawk, monodrama in 1 act (1972)
Bilby's Doll, opera in 3 acts (1976)
Willie Stark, opera in 3 acts (1981)
Cold Sassy Tree, comic opera in 3 acts (2000)
Prince of Players, opera in 2 acts (2016)

Orchestra
Introduction, Aria, and Dance, orchestra (1967)
In Celebration, orchestra (1971)
Flourishes, orchestra (1987)

Chorus w/Orchestra
A Time to Dance, baritone, chorus and orchestra (1994)

Piano
Piano Sonata (1957)

Vocal
Five Early Songs, voice and piano (1944-48)
 - ????
 - ????
 - When You are Old and Gray (1944) [text: Yeats]
 - I am a Beggar on a Lonely Hill (1948) [text: Bernard Barrow]
 - Old Song (1948) [text: Hart Crane]
Pilgrimage, song cycle, baritone and orchestra (1956) [text: various biblical]
 - Man that is born of a woman
 - Save me, O Lord, for the waters are come in unto my soul
 - O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me
 - Praise the Lord, O my soul
 - For I am persuaded
The Mystery (Five Songs of Motherhood), song cycle, soprano and orchestra (1960) [text: Gabriela Mistral]
 - He Has Kissed Me
 - Gentleness
 - To My Husband
 - At Dawn
 - Rocking
Citizen of Paradise, song cycle, mezzo-soprano and piano (1983) [text: Emily Dickinson]
 - Prologue
       - This is My Letter to the World
       - I Went to School
       - I'm Nobody
 - Friendship and Society
       - To See Her is a Picture
       - Thank You That You Never Weary of Me
       - I am Much Ashamed
       - What Soft Cherubic Creatures
 - Love
       - Confess That I Love Him
       - Heart! We Will Forget Him
       - Empty My Heart of Thee
       - There is a Pain so Utter
 - Nature
       - If Roses had not Faded
       - Taste a Liquor Never Brewed
       - Take All Away From Me
 - Death and Solitude
       - It's Coming, the Postponeless Creature
       - The Dear Mother
       - Emerging From an Abyss
       - There is a Solitude of Space
 - Epilogue
       - This is my Letter to the World
Soul of Heaven, song cycle, voice and piano (1995)
 - Musick, thou Soule of Heaven [text: Robert Herrick]
 - Skarlet is no Colour [text: John Case]
 - Music is Love [text: Sidney Lanier]
 - A Rich Man Bought a Swan and a Goose [text: Aesop]
 - So is Music and Asylum [text: Ralph Waldo Emerson]
 - Without Music [text: Friedrich Nietzsche]
 - Have You not Observed a Captain [text:
 - For Proofe that Musick [text: Jeremy Collier]
 - Music is Good for the Melancholy [text: Spinoza]
 - Do But Note a Wild and Wanton Herd [text: Shakespeare]


FLOYD LINKS                                                            Works by Genre      ~ top of page ~
[under construction]

American Icon: Carlisle Floyd Talks About Life and Opera (Robert Wilder, SFOpera)
Composer  Carlisle  Floyd - A Conversation with Bruce Duffie
Carlisle Floyd on Being a Librettist (Paul Thomason)
A Detailed Look at Carlisle Floyd's Grand Opera 'The Passion of Jonathan Wade' (J.R. Wentz)
Letter to the World (Susanne Mentzer)
Restoration of Carlisle Floyd (Tabitha Yang, Tallahassee Magazine)

Composer's website [none at the moment]   . . .   inquire about Floyd:  here

Floyd @ Wikipedia
Floyd @ ArkivMusic
Floyd @ Boosey & Hawkes
Floyd @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
Floyd @ Klassika
Floyd @ Musicalics
Floyd @ MusicWeb International
Floyd @ National Endowment for the Arts
Floyd @ New Music USA [formerly American Music Center]
Floyd @ The New York Times
Floyd @ NPRmusic
Floyd @ Operas Arias Composers Singers
Floyd @ REC Music Foundation /The Lied and Art Song Texts Page
Floyd @ Roven Records
Floyd @ South Carolina Hall of Fame
Floyd @ University of Houston Libraries
Floyd @ Unsung Songs
Floyd @ US Opera

Publisher
Floyd @ Boosey & Hawkes
Floyd @

Streaming Audio
Floyd @ last.fm
Floyd @ NPRmusic
Floyd @ PRX (Public Radio Exchange)
Floyd @ SoundCloud

Recordings
Floyd @ Albany Records
Floyd @ Amazon.com
Floyd @ Apple Music
Floyd @ ArkivMusic
Floyd @ Discogs
Floyd @ Naxos
Floyd @ Roven Records

Video
Floyd @ YouTube
Floyd @ Google Video
Floyd @ Vimeo

 Composer on Composer: On Composing (streaming audio)
Composer, composerComposers Speak on the Web at Pytheas
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