52 Quotes by Carlisle Floyd

I found a certain kind of music congenial to me; it never occurred to me to write music that was academically acceptable.

If I felt that one of my operas did not come off I would certainly say so.

It seems to me opera is just as relevant as an expressive art as anything else.

Most of the important composers in our country are clustered in the Northeast.

Opera is given so little attention in the national press.

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 you what that phenomenon is.

I had all the normal interests - I played basketball and I headed the school paper. But I also developed very early a great love for music and literature and the theater.

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 by being rejected by the audience.

I was interested in what was really going on in Salem at that time, and I resolved to investigate this seemingly unorthodox treatment of the people and the period.