It's amazing how fast generations lose sight of other generations. One of the first things the young composers who come to work with me say is that they want to write music people will like, instead of gaining their credentials… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
We think the Puritans always dressed in black and white, which they didn't. They loved very bright colors. And there were other differences in… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
Like any other composer of opera, I choose a subject not for polemical reasons, but because it contains vivid characters in highly charged dramatic… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
It's necessary to track characters all the way through an opera. If you're dealing with more than one or two characters, it's very easy… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
I was encouraged by my mother and, to a lesser extent, by my father. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
The artist is something of an outsider in America. I have always felt that America does not value its artists, certainly not in the… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
I think anything that is expressed directly and as honestly as possible will last. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
You can't possibly predict what will last or not. But once you attempt to write for the ages, you're doomed. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
Socially I never was an outsider. I have never thought of the conflict element before frankly, but perhaps it was wanting to belong, and… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
It's amazing how fast generations lose sight of other generations. One of the first things the young composers who come to work with me… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
I've never set out consciously to write American music. I don't know what that would be unless the obvious Appalachian folk references. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
When I've seen my operas in Europe, they have always struck me as more American than when I hear them here. I can't tell… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
Anyone who creates something new or does something different artistically is going to be singled out. — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
The performances of my works in the last 10 years are probably equal to all the previous years put together. There are so many… — Carlisle Floyd Copy Share Image
