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Biography of Carlisle FloydName: Carlisle FloydBirth Date: June 11, 1926 Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: Latta, South Carolina, United States Nationality: Gender: Male Occupations: composer, dramatist Carlisle Floyd Carlisle Floyd (born 1926) brought abilities as librettist and dramatist to the composition of opera. Writing mostly in the verismo tradition, Floyd achieved considerable success with his third opera, Susannah, although he continued to refine and develop his techniques in later works.Carlisle Floyd was born in Latta, South Carolina, on June 11, 1926. He received his first piano lessons from his mother at the age of ten, but divided his attentions among literature, graphic arts, sports, and music throughout his high school years. At Spartanburg College, where he began studying in 1943 on a scholarship, Floyd's writing abilities earned him first prize in a contest for one-act plays. When in 1945 his piano teacher, Ernst Bacon, accepted a post at Syracuse University, Floyd followed him there in order to continue studying with him.Floyd received his bachelor of music degree from Syracuse in 1946 and in the following year began teaching piano at Florida State …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…who someday might rival or surpass his stature in the operatic world. He was associated with the University of Houston School of Music for 20 years. When he retired from teaching in 1996, he left behind the school's distinguished M.D. Anderson Chair and the legacy of having helped build a highly respected music program. Upon his departure from academia, Floyd referred to his retirement as his "third act" and expressed the intention to pursue the creation of more operatic works. Associated Works Suzannah Further Reading David Ewen's American Composers: A Biographical Dictionary (1982) contains a complete but not always reliable biography. Floyd discussed his opera Wuthering Heights in a lengthy article in the New York Times (July 13, 1958). Howard Taubman reviewed the same opera in the New York Times (April 10, 1959), and Susannah, also in the New York Times (September 28, 1956). More recently in the same newspaper (October 15, 1983) Donal Henahan reviewed Of Mice and Men. |