Carlisle Floyd's

Abstract

A transcript of the interview with Carlisle Floyd offering his unique insight into both the opera and his work as a composer appears in Appendix 2 of the study.

Carlisle Floyd (b. 1926) is a preeminent figure in American opera, having written numerous full-length and one-act scores, including Susannah (1954), Of Mice and Men (1963), and The Passion of Jonathan Wade (1962). He is unique among American composers in that his career as an opera composer has spanned the second half of the twentieth century, with two of his major scores serving as bookends to the half-century (Susannah of 1954 and Cold Sassy Tree of 2000). His newest opera, Cold Sassy Tree, is the subject of this study.

Cold Sassy Tree was co-commissioned by Houston Grand Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Baltimore Opera, Opera Carolina and San Diego Opera. The libretto, created by the composer, is based upon the 1984 novel of the same name by Olive Ann Burns. Houston Grand Opera presented the opera's world premiere in April 2000, with Patrick Summers conducting and Bruce Bereford directing.

The study includes background information on the Houston and Austin premieres of the opera, gathered from primary sources such as programs, the performances themselves, the score, and an interview with the composer. An examination of critical response to the Houston premiere is included. The study contains a discussion of the Cold Sassy Tree libretto, including an examination of differences between the Bums novel and the Floyd adaptation. A discussion of Floyd's libretto-writing strategies, based upon Floyd's own numerous articles on the subject, appears in the same chapter. The numerous recurring themes and leitmotivs in the opera have been identified and included in a chapter that explores Floyd's melodic style. An examination of the stylistic features and compositional devices permeating the score, described through theoretical analysis of three excerpts from the opera, comprises three chapters of the study.