# Carlisle Floyd died at 95 (TWO MONTHS AGO!)



## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)

How did this go under the radar? Haven't seen a single post about this on here:



"Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926 – September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his dozen or so operas. These stage works, for which he wrote the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American South, particularly the Post-civil war South, the Great Depression and rural life. His best known opera, Susannah, is based on a story from the Biblical Apocrypha, transferred to contemporary rural Tennessee, and written for a Southern dialect. It was premiered at Florida State University in 1955, with Phyllis Curtin in the title role. When it was staged at the New York City Opera the following year, the reception was initially mixed; some considered it a masterpiece, while others degraded it as a 'folk opera'. Subsequent performances led to an increase in Susannah's reputation and the opera quickly became among the most performed of American operas."


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## christomacin (Oct 21, 2017)




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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I was only aware of CF from reading his entry in the _Penguin Guide to Opera_ years ago, and apart from a very potted history of the man himself most of the rest revolved around _Susannah_. Since then I never took on board that he could still have been with us or remember he was as old as he was. _Of Mice and Men_ is the only other opera of his that I've heard mentioned (and not necessarily on TC). A respected figure for sure, judging by the accolades and awards I've seen on his wiki entry. I'm assuming that now leaves Ned Rorem out on his own as the Grand Old Man of American music?


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

Though the late American composer Carlisle Floyd remains best known for his operas, some dozen or so including _Susannah_ and _Of Mice and Men_, both based on Biblical themes (the former from the Judeo-Christian Bible, the latter from the biblical writings of American literary master John Steinbeck), I first came to Floyd's music by way of a recording on the Louisville Orchestra's First Edition record label, a piece titled "In Celebration: An Overture For Orchestra", which has been in my record collection since the early 1970s when I first became acquainted with the Louisville Orchestra record subscription program and scooped up nearly all their disc releases.















I've since added both _Susannah_ and _Of Mice and Men_ to my disc collection, but it will always be "In Celebration" that prompts my memory's initial response to the term "the music of Carlisle Floyd".

Perhaps now is a good time to remember Floyd and to celebrate his music making and his substantial contribution to the American opera scene with a listen to the overture "In Celebration", available today, as is most everything, via a link on the Internet:


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