View source for Carlisle Floyd

{{Short description|American composer (1926–2021)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Carlisle Floyd
| image         = Carlisle Floyd with National Medal of Arts award.jpg
| image_upright = 1.1
| caption       = Carlisle Floyd with [[National Medal of Arts]] {{nowrap|in 2004}}
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1926|06|11}}
| birth_place   = [[Latta, South Carolina]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{death date and age|2021|09|30|1926|06|11}}
| death_place   = [[Tallahassee, Florida]], U.S.
| education     = {{plainlist|
* [[Converse College]]
* [[Syracuse University]]
}}
| known_for     = [[#Works for stage|Operas]]<br/>''[[Susannah]]''
| notable_works = [[#List of compositions|List of compositions]]
| awards        =  [[National Medal of Arts]]<br/>[[#Awards and honors|Full list]]
}}
'''Carlisle Sessions Floyd''' (June 11, 1926{{spnd}}September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his [[opera]]s. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the [[libretto]]s, typically engage with themes from the [[American South]], particularly the [[Reconstruction era|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 American English|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''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s reputation and the opera quickly became among the most performed of American operas.

In 1976, he became M. D. Anderson professor at the [[University of Houston]]. He co-founded the Houston Opera Studio for the training of young singers. Floyd is regarded as the "Father of American opera".<ref name="Boosey">{{cite web |url=https://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/composer/composer_main?sl-id=1&composerid=2810&ttype=BIOGRAPHY&ttitle=Biography |title=Carlisle Floyd Biography |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]]|access-date=August 13, 2008}}</ref>
{{TOC limit|3}}

== Life and career==
===Youth and education===
Floyd was born in [[Latta, South Carolina]], on June 11, 1926, to Carlisle and Ida ([[née]] Fenegan) Floyd.<ref name="Huizenga">{{Cite news |last=Huizenga |first=Tom |date=September 30, 2021 |title=Carlisle Floyd, a founding father of American opera, has died at age 95 |language= |work=[[National Public Radio]] |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/deceptivecadence/2021/09/30/532956991/carlisle-floyd-american-opera-composer-dead |access-date=September 30, 2021}}</ref><ref name=nytobit>{{Cite news|last=McFadden|first=Robert D.|author-link=Robert D. McFadden|date=September 30, 2021|title=Carlisle Floyd, Whose Operas Spun Fables of the South, Dies at 95|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/30/arts/music/carlisle-floyd-dead.html|access-date=September 30, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>  His father was his namesake and a [[Methodist]] minister at the local church;{{sfn|Holliday|2013|p=1}} on both sides his family was descended from among the first European immigrants to the [[Carolinas]].<ref name="Stiller"/> He had a sister, Ermine, along with a sizable extended family.{{sfn|Holliday|2013|pp=2–3}} Being raised in the [[Southern United States]], Floyd would have been well aquatinted with typical [[Culture of the Southern United States|Southern ideals]] of the time, such as [[Southern hospitality]], extra caution [[Culture of honor (Southern United States)|to avoid offending others]], [[Protestantism]] and a general disliking towards the [[Northern United States|Northerners]].{{sfn|Holliday|2013|pp=5–6}} Also prominent in his Southern upbringing were [[revival meeting]]s, and the "small-town [[bigotry]]," which later influenced his work.<ref name="NYT1998">{{cite news |last=Schwarz |first=K. Robert |date=1 November 1998 |title=A Regional Favorite Gains Prominence |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=6 October 2021 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/01/arts/a-regional-favorite-gains-prominence.html }}</ref>{{refn|Floyd later reflected on these, saying "The thing that horrified me already as a child about revival meetings was mass coercion, people being forced to conform to something against their will without even knowing what they were being asked to confess or receive".<ref name="NYT1998"/>|group=n}} Though the family was not familiar with [[contemporary classical music]],{{sfn|Holliday|2013|p=2}} Floyd's mother enjoyed music and poetry, often hosting family [[hymn]] singing events.{{sfn|Holliday|2013|p=6}} She also gave Floyd his first piano lessons.<ref name="Dobson">{{Cite news |last=Dobson |first=Byron |date=September 30, 2021 |title=Tallahassee's world-famous opera composer, Carlisle Floyd, dies at 95 |language= |work=[[Tallahassee Democrat]] |url=https://eu.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/10/01/tallahassee-world-famous-opera-composer-fsu-professor-carlisle-floyd-dies/5946866001/ |access-date=September 30, 2021}}</ref> Floyd attended North High School in North Carolina.{{sfn|Holliday|2013|p=46}}

Though American involvement in [[World War II]] had begun in 1941, Floyd's [[asthma]] prevented his [[conscription]].<ref name="The Telegraph"/> He attended [[Converse College]] of [[Spartanburg, South Carolina]], in 1944, studying piano with composer [[Ernst Bacon]].<ref name=nytobit/> In 1945 Bacon left Converse to become director of the music school at [[Syracuse University]], New York,<ref name=nytobit/> a considerably more [[multicultural]] institution.<ref name="The Telegraph"/> Floyd followed Bacon to Syracuse and received a [[Bachelor of Music]] in 1946.<ref name=nytobit/> The following year, Floyd became part of the piano faculty at [[Florida State University]] in [[Tallahassee]].<ref name="Dobson" /> He stayed there for thirty years, eventually becoming Professor of Composition. He received a master's degree at Syracuse in 1949.<ref name="Stiller">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Stiller |first=Andrew |year=2003 |orig-year=2001 |encyclopedia=[[Grove Music Online]] |title=Floyd, Carlisle |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.09881 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 |url-access=subscription |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000009881 }} {{Grove Music subscription}}</ref>

===Emerging composer and ''Susannah''===
While at FSU, Floyd gradually became interested in composition. His first opera was ''Slow Dusk'' to his own libretto, and was produced at Syracuse in 1949. His next opera, ''The Fugitives'', was seen at Tallahassee in 1951 but was withdrawn.<ref name="Stiller"/>

Floyd's third opera was his greatest success: ''[[Susannah]]''. It was premiered at Florida State at the Ruby Diamond Auditorium<ref name="Dobson" /> in February 1955, with [[Phyllis Curtin]] in the title role and [[Mack Harrell]] as the Reverend Olin Blitch. The following year, the opera was given at the [[New York City Opera]], winning him international recognition.<ref name="Boosey" /> [[Erich Leinsdorf]] conducted, with Curtin and [[Norman Treigle]] as Blitch. The opera received the New York Music Critics' Circle Award.<ref name="Boosey" /> It was selected to be America's official operatic entry at the [[1958 World's Fair]] in Brussels,<ref name="Boosey" /><ref name="Dobson" /> directed by [[Frank Corsaro]], with Curtin, Treigle and [[Richard Cassilly]].<ref name="Dobson" />

===Further operas===

Later in 1958, Floyd's ''[[Wuthering Heights (1958 opera)|Wuthering Heights]]'' (after [[Emily Brontë]]) premiered at the [[Santa Fe Opera]], with Curtin as the heroine.<ref name="Boosey" /> In 1960, at Syracuse, his solo cantata on biblical texts, ''Pilgrimage'', was first heard with Treigle as soloist. ''[[The Passion of Jonathan Wade]]'', commissioned by the [[Ford Foundation]], was Floyd's most epic opera, set in South Carolina during the [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction era]].<ref name="LAT">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-24-ca-847-story.html|title='Jonathan Wade' Gets New Lease on Life|date=September 24, 1990|website=Los Angeles Times|accessdate=January 12, 2020}}</ref> It was premiered at the [[New York City Opera]] on October 11, 1962. [[Theodor Uppman]], Curtin, Treigle and [[Harry Theyard]] performed in a large cast, conducted by [[Julius Rudel]] and directed by [[Allen Fletcher]].<ref name="Boosey Wade">{{cite web |url=https://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moredetails?musicid=2891 |title=Floyd, Carlisle / The Passion of Jonathan Wade (1962, rev.1989) |publisher =[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref> Floyd revised it in 1989 for performances at four major opera houses in the U.S., beginning at Houston Grand  Opera.<ref name="LAT" /><ref name="Boosey Wade" />

Floyd's next opera was ''The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair'', which was a comedy around Scottish settlers of the Carolinas.  [[Patricia Neway]] and Treigle created the title roles with Rudel conducting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carlisle Floyd Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair – Opera |author= |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |date= |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moreDetails?musicID=4956}}</ref> The opera ''[[Markheim (opera)|Markheim]]'' (after [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]) was first shown at the [[New Orleans Opera]] Association in 1966, with Treigle (to whom it was dedicated) and [[Audrey Schuh]] heading the cast. Floyd himself served as stage director.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carlisle Floyd Markheim – Opera |author= |publisher=[[Boosey & Hawkes]] |date= |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moreDetails?musicID=6304}}</ref>

The opera ''[[Of Mice and Men (opera)|Of Mice and Men]]'' (after [[John Steinbeck]]) was commissioned by the [[Ford Foundation]]. After a long gestation period, it was premiered at the [[Seattle Opera]] in 1970, directed by Corsaro.<ref name="Boosey" />  A monodrama on the royal subject of [[Eleanor of Aquitaine]], ''Flower and Hawk'', premiered in [[Jacksonville, Florida]], with Curtin directed by Corsaro. The production was also presented at [[Carnegie Hall]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=FLORIDA PLAYERS REGAIN STABILITY (Published 1972) |last=Ericson |first=Raymond |work=[[New York Times]] |date=May 21, 1972 |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/21/archives/florida-players-regain-stability-jacksonville-symphony-led-by-page.html}}</ref>

''[[Bilby's Doll]]'' (after [[Esther Forbes]]) was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera where it was premiered in 1976 with [[Christopher Keene]] conducting and [[David Pountney]] directing.<ref name="Boosey" /> Floyd composed ''[[Willie Stark]]'' (after [[Robert Penn Warren]]) also for Houston, where it was first heard in 1981 in a staging by [[Harold Prince]].<ref name="Boosey" /> After a hiatus of almost twenty years, another Floyd opera premiered in Houston in 2000, ''[[Cold Sassy Tree (opera)|Cold Sassy Tree]]'' (after [[Olive Ann Burns]]).<ref name="Boosey" /> Patrick Summers conducted, [[Bruce Beresford]] directed, and [[Patricia Racette]] led the cast.<ref name="Huizenga" /> It was subsequently produced by several American opera houses.<ref name="Boosey" />

In 1976, he became M. D. Anderson professor at the [[University of Houston]]. There, he co-founded the Houston Opera Studio, together with David Gockley, as an institution of the University of Houston and [[Houston Grand Opera]],<ref name="Boosey" /> with students including [[Michael Ching]] and [[Craig Bohmler]].<ref>[http://www.cpanda.org/pdfs/csob/2204.pdf "Career Guide: Latest Additions & Changes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923210851/http://www.cpanda.org/pdfs/csob/2204.pdf |date=September 23, 2015 }}. ''Central Opera Service Bulletin''. Vol. 22, No. 4., Winter/Spring 1981. p. 34.</ref><ref>Ching, Michael. [http://operaandbeyond.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html "Carlisle Floyd"]. ''Opera and Beyond''. September 28, 2011.</ref>

===Retirement and later years===
[[File:NEA Opera Honorees.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Carlisle Floyd (second from right) at the [[National Endowment for the Arts]] honors in 2004, with NEA Chairman [[Dana Gioia]] (left), [[Leontyne Price]] and [[Richard Gaddes]]]]
After retirement from the university in Houston in 1996, Floyd lived in Tallahassee again.<ref name="Dobson" /> He had composed a Piano Sonata in the 1950s (1957, two years after ''Susannah'') for [[Rudolf Firkušný]], who played it at a [[Carnegie Hall]] recital, but it languished until [[Daniell Revenaugh]] recorded it in 2009 at the age of 74. Revenaugh worked with the composer in learning the piece (Floyd himself had never learned it), and their rehearsal sessions and the live recording itself were filmed for posterity. The recording was made on the [[Steinway & Sons#Special designs|Alma-Tadema Steinway]] that graced the [[White House]] during the presidencies of [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[Woodrow Wilson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tallahasseemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=602&Itemid=119 |title=Tallahassee Magazine: Events, Food, Culture, Home and Style coverage for the Tallahassee Area |access-date=December 27, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130154756/http://tallahasseemagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=602&Itemid=119 |archive-date=November 30, 2010 }}</ref>

The Houston Grand Opera produced a new opera by Floyd on March 5, 2016, ''Prince of Players'', a chamber opera about the 17th-century actor, [[Edward Kynaston (actor)|Edward Kynaston]], conducted by Summers. A live recording of the premiere was nominated for a [[Grammy Awards|Grammy Award]].<ref name="Boosey" />

Floyd died on September 30, 2021, in Tallahassee, at the age of 95.<ref name="Huizenga" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Salazar|first=Francisco|date=September 30, 2021|title=Obituary: American Opera Composer Carlisle Floyd Dies at 95|url=https://operawire.com/obituary-american-opera-composer-carlisle-floyd-dies-at-95/|access-date=September 30, 2021|website=Opera Wire|language=en-US}}</ref> He had no children, but was survived by four nieces, the daughters of Ermine.<ref name="Dobson"/> His publisher [[Boosey and Hawkes]], announced his death and did not relay the cause.<ref name="Huizenga" />

==Music==
===Legacy and reputation===
Floyd is primarily known for his operas, which make up the bulk of his compositional output.<ref name=nytobit/> Like [[Wagner]] and [[Gian Carlo Menotti|Menotti]], Floyd wrote the [[libretto]]s to his operas.<ref name="Stiller"/> His best-known opera,<ref name=nytobit/> ''Susannah'', is regarded as his ''[[magnum opus]]''.<ref name="Dobson"/> The [[National Public Radio]]'s Tom Huizenga posits the work as suitable contender to be considered the archetypal "Great American Opera".<ref name="Huizenga"/>{{refn|The idea of the "Great American Opera" originates from an earlier debate concerning the [[Great American Novel]].<ref>{{cite news |date=November 7, 1999 |title=The View From Up There |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/1999/nov/08/artsfeatures5 |access-date=October 4, 2021 }}</ref>|group=n}} Patricia Racette declared that "If it is not the greatest American opera, it's certainly among the great American operas".<ref name="Huizenga"/> According to ''[[Opera News]]'', ''Susannah'' is the most frequently performed American opera after Gershwin's ''[[Porgy and Bess]]'' and Menotti's ''[[Amahl and the Night Visitors]]''.<ref name="Dobson"/> ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', however, claimed it is the most "widely performed" American opera, purportedly outnumbering some works by [[Mozart]], [[Verdi]] and [[Puccini]].<ref name="The Telegraph">{{cite news |date=6 October 2021 |title=Carlisle Floyd, composer of the record-breaking blockbuster opera Susannah – obituary |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/10/06/carlisle-floyd-composer-record-breaking-blockbuster-opera-susannah/ |access-date=12 October 2021 |archive-date=9 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009154425/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2021/10/06/carlisle-floyd-composer-record-breaking-blockbuster-opera-susannah/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }} {{subscription required}}</ref> In addition to [[Gershwin]] and [[Gian Carlo Menotti|Menotti]], Floyd stands with [[John Adams (composer)|Adams]], [[Samuel Barber|Barber]], [[Leonard Bernstein|Bernstein]], [[Philip Glass|Glass]] and [[Ned Rorem|Rorem]] in the pantheon of preeminent 20th-century American opera composers.<ref name=nytobit/>

===Selected recordings===
====Discography====
* ''Susannah'' (Studer, Hadley, Ramey; Nagano, 1993–94) Virgin Classics
* ''Susannah'' (Curtin, Cassilly, Treigle; Andersson, 1962) [live] VAI
* ''Wuthering Heights'' (Jarman, Mentzer, Markgraf; Mechavich, 2015) [live] Reference Recordings
* ''Pilgrimage'': excerpts (Treigle; Torkanowsky, 1971) Orion
* ''The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair'' (Neway, Treigle; Rudel, 1963) VAI
* ''Markheim'' (Schuh, Treigle; Andersson, 1966) [live] VAI
* ''Of Mice and Men'' (Futral, Griffey, Hawkins; Summers, 2002) [live] Albany Records
* ''Cold Sassy Tree'' (Racette; Summers, 2000) [live] Albany Records

====Videography====
* ''Susannah'': Revival Scene (Treigle; Yestadt, Treigle, 1958) [live] Bel Canto Society
* ''Willie Stark'' (Jesse; J.Keene, McDonough, 2007) [live] [[Newport Classic]]
* ''Susannah'' (Spatafora, Webb, Donovan; Sforzini, Unger, 2014) [live] Naxos

==List of compositions==
Floyd's compositions were published by [[Boosey and Hawkes]].{{refn|For Floyd's works on the [[Boosey and Hawkes]] website see: {{cite web |title=Your search for 'Composer: Carlisle Floyd' |publisher=[[Boosey and Hawkes]] |url=https://www.boosey.com/cr/catalogue/ps/powersearch_results?composerid=2810 |access-date=October 4, 2021 }}|group=n}}

{| class = "wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
|+ List of compositions by Carlisle Floyd<ref>Information is from {{harvnb|Stiller|2003}} unless otherwise noted.</ref>{{refn|Only Floyd's major works are listed. {{harvnb|Stiller|2003}} notes that he wrote other solo piano and pedagogical works.|group=n}}
|-
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Genre
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Subject
|-
| colspan="4" style="background-color: #D8D8D8" data-sort-value="ZZZZ1A" |

===Works for stage===
|-
| ''[[Slow Dusk]]''
| 1949
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Musical play<br/>1 act
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| data-sort-value="Fugitives" | ''The Fugitives''
| 1951<br><small>(unfinished)</small>
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Unfinished stage work
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''[[Susannah]]''
| 1955
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Musical drama<br/>2 acts
| [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna and the Elders]]
|-
| ''[[Wuthering Heights (Floyd opera)|Wuthering Heights]]''
| 1958<br/>{{abbreviation|rev.|revised}} 1959
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Musical drama<br/>3 acts (& prologue)
| ''[[Wuthering Heights]]'' by [[Emily Brontë]]
|-
| data-sort-value="Passion" | ''[[The Passion of Jonathan Wade]]''
| 1962<br/>{{abbreviation|rev.|revised}} 1991
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Opera<br/>3 acts
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| data-sort-value="Sojourner" | ''[[The Sojourner and Mollie Sinclair]]''
| 1963
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | [[Comic opera]]<br/>1 act
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''[[Markheim (opera)|Markheim]]''
| 1966
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Opera<br/>1 act
| "[[Markheim]]" by [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]
|-
| ''[[Of Mice and Men (opera)|Of Mice and Men]]''
| 1970
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Musical drama<br/>3 acts
| ''[[Of Mice and Men]]'' by [[John Steinbeck]]
|-
| ''[[Flower and Hawk]]''
| 1972
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Monodrama<br/>1 act
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''[[Bilby's Doll]]''
| 1976
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Opera<br/>3 acts
| ''[[A Mirror for Witches]]'' by [[Esther Forbes]]
|-
| ''[[Willie Stark]]''
| 1981
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Opera<br/>3 acts
| ''[[All the King's Men]]'' by [[Robert Penn Warren]]
|-
| ''[[Cold Sassy Tree (opera)|Cold Sassy Tree]]''
| 2000
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | [[Comic opera]]<br/>3 acts
| ''[[Cold Sassy Tree]]'' by [[Olive Ann Burns]]
|-
| ''[[Prince of Players (opera)|Prince of Players]]''<ref>{{cite web |last=Kaliss |first=Jeff |date=July 31, 2020 |title=Carlisle Floyd Takes on Tangled Issues of Sex and Identity in Prince of Players |work=San Francisco Classical Voice |url=https://www.sfcv.org/articles/review/carlisle-floyd-takes-tangled-issues-sex-and-identity-prince-players |access-date=October 3, 2021 }}</ref>
| 2016
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ1B" | Opera<br/>2 acts
| Fictional portrayal of [[Edward Kynaston (actor)|Edward Kynaston]]'s life
|-
| colspan="4" style="background-color: #D8D8D8" data-sort-value="ZZZZ2A" |

===Other works===
|-
| ''Pilgrimage''
| 1956
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Song cycle<br/><small>Baritone and orchestra</small>
| Various biblical texts
|-
| Piano Sonata
| 1957
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Solo piano
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| data-sort-value="Mystery" | ''The Mystery''
| 1960
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Song cycle<br/><small>Soprano and orchestra</small>
| Text by [[Gabriela Mistral]]
|-
| Introduction, Aria, and Dance
| 1967
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Orchestral
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''In Celebration''
| 1971
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Orchestral
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''Citizen of Paradise''
| 1983
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Song cycle<br/><small>Mezzo-soprano and piano</small>
| Text by [[Emily Dickinson]]
|-
| ''Flourishes''
| 1987
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Orchestral<br/><small>[[Fanfare]]</small>
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''A Time to Dance''
| 1994
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Orchestral<br/><small>Baritone, chorus and orchestra</small>
| style="text-align:center;" | –
|-
| ''Soul of Heaven''
| 1995
| data-sort-value="ZZZZ2B" | Song cycle<br/><small>Voice and piano</small>
| Text by various authors
|}

==Awards and honors==
[[File:George W. and Laura Bush present the National Medal of Arts award to Carlisle Floyd.jpg|thumb|[[George W. Bush]] and [[Laura Bush]] present the [[National Medal of Arts]], 2004]]
* 1956 [[Guggenheim Fellowship]]<ref name="Huizenga" />
* 1957 Citation of Merit from the [[National Association of American Conductors and Composers]]<ref name="Boosey"/>
* 1959 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award from the [[U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce]]<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dOCVjpxzXEUC&pg=PA179 |page=179 |author=Thomas Holliday |title=Falling Up: The Days and Nights of Carlisle Floyd, The Authorized Biography |year=2013 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |isbn=9780815610038}}</ref>
* 1964 [[Distinguished Professor]] of [[Florida State University]] Award<ref>{{Cite web |title=Florida State News and Events |author= |publisher=[[Florida State University]] |date= |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://www.fsu.edu/news/2011/09/16/carlisle.floyd/}}</ref>
* 1983 Honorary degree from [[Dickinson College]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carlisle Floyd Receives Honorary Degree {{!}} Dickinson College |author= |publisher=[[Dickinson College]] |date= |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://archives.dickinson.edu/event/carlisle-floyd-receives-honorary-degree}}</ref>
* 1983 National Opera Institute's Award for Service to American Opera – the highest honor the institute bestows<ref name="Dobson" />
* 1993 [[Brock Commission]] from the American Choral Directors Association.<ref name=Brock>{{cite web|url=http://acda.org/page.asp?page%3Dbrock_pieces |title=American Choral Directors Association |access-date=March 27, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308063227/http://www.acda.org/page.asp?page=brock_pieces |archive-date=March 8, 2016 }}, Retrieved March 2016</ref>
* 2001 Inducted into the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]]<ref name="Boosey"/>
* 2004 [[National Medal of Arts]] from the [[White House]]<ref name="Boosey" /><ref name="Huizenga" />
* 2005 Honorary Doctorate from [[Florida State University]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Carlisle Floyd's American opera 'Susannah' returns to FSU stage that launched its 1955 debut |author=Libby Fairhurst |work=fsu.edu |date=October 31, 2005 |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://www.fsu.edu/events/2005/10/31/floyds.susannah/}}</ref>
* 2008 [[National Endowment for the Arts]] Opera Honoree for lifetime work<ref name="Huizenga" />
* 2010 [[Opera Tampa#Award|Anton Coppola Excellence in the Arts Award]] from Opera Tampa<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZTqLAWrsZUC&dq=anton+coppola+opera+tampa+award+Carlisle+Floyd&pg=PA194 “The Fifteenth Year – Opera Tampa”]. ''Tampa Bay Magazine''. September 2009, pg 194. Retrieved February 28, 2013.</ref>
* 2012 [[Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia]] [[Charles E. Lutton Man of Music Award|Man of Music]] – the highest honor for a member of the American music fraternity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Man of Music Carlisle Floyd Sounds The Final Chord – Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia |author= |publisher=Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America |date=October 1, 2021 |access-date=October 4, 2021 |url= https://www.sinfonia.org/2021/10/01/man-of-music-carlisle-floyd-sounds-the-final-chord/}}</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{cite journal |last=Coffman |first=Teresa S. |date=March 1999 |title=Carlisle Floyd's Text Settings in His Works for Chorus |journal=[[The Choral Journal]] |publisher=[[American Choral Directors Association]] |volume=39 |issue=8 |pages=37–46 |jstor=23552766 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Eyer |first=Ronald |date=Winter 1956–1957 |title=Carlisle Floyd's: 'Susannah' |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |issue=2 |pages=7–11 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200043709 |jstor=942914 |s2cid=144987051 }}
* {{cite book |last=Holliday |first=Thomas |others=Foreword by [[Plácido Domingo]] |year=2013 |title=Falling Up: The Days and Nights of Carlisle Floyd, The Authorized Biography |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |location=Syracuse |isbn=978-0-8156-5195-6 |jstor=j.ctt1j1w0pr |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=4oiiAgAAQBAJ}} }}
* {{cite journal |last=Jensen-Moulton |first=Stephanie |date=Summer 2012 |title=Intellectual Disability in Carlisle Floyd's Of ''Mice and Men'' |journal=[[American Music (journal)|American Music]] |publisher=[[University of Illinois Press]] |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=129–156 |jstor=10.5406/americanmusic.30.2.0129 |doi=10.5406/americanmusic.30.2.0129 |s2cid=191463997 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Sabin |first=Robert |date=Autumn 1961 |title=Carlisle Floyd's 'Wuthering Heights' |journal=[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |issue=59 |pages=23–26 |doi=10.1017/S0040298200027819 |jstor=943534 |s2cid=145631978 }}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news |last=Gioia |first=Dana |date=2024 |title=A Tale of Two Composers |work=[[The Hudson Review]] |url=https://hudsonreview.com/2024/05/a-tale-of-two-composers/ }} 
* {{cite book |last=Kornick |first=Rebecca Hodell |year=1991 |title=Recent American Opera: A Production Guide |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]] |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-06920-5 |pages=102–108 }}
* {{cite thesis |type=DMA |last=McDevitt |first=F. J. |date=1975 |title=The Stage Works of Carlisle Floyd, 1949–72 |publisher=[[Juilliard School]] }}
* {{cite thesis |type=DMA |last=Senter |first=Mary Lester |date=1980 |title=The Monodrama 'Flower and Hawk' by Carlisle Floyd  |publisher=[[University of Texas at Austin]] |oclc=38878761 }}

==External links==
{{commonscat}}
{{Archival records |title=Carlisle Floyd collection, circa 1949–2009 |location=[[Music Division, Library of Congress]] |description_URL=https://lccn.loc.gov/2014572490 }}
* {{discogs artist}}
* {{IMDb name|3031084}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20021029140622/http://usoperaweb.com/2002/september/floyd.htm Operas we would like to see again]
* [http://www.bruceduffie.com/floyd.html Interview with Carlisle Floyd], May 4, 1991.

{{Carlisle Floyd}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 2000s}}
{{Portal bar|Classical music|Opera|United States|Biography|Music}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Floyd, Carlisle}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:American opera composers]]
[[Category:American opera librettists]]
[[Category:American male opera composers]]
[[Category:21st-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:Texas classical music]]
[[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]
[[Category:Florida State University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Houston faculty]]
[[Category:Syracuse University College of Visual and Performing Arts alumni]]
[[Category:People from Latta, South Carolina]]
[[Category:Classical musicians from South Carolina]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Converse University alumni]]