Ryan Kirk Opera Lit

Born on June 11th, 1926, to the small eastern South Carolina town of Latta, Carlisle

Floyd arose from humble beginnings. The son of a Methodist minister, Floyd was exposed to

the culture of the American southern Bible belt at its height. Floyd was, however, keenly aware

that this community which so thoroughly enthralled his family was beholden to the darker

aspects of man. Southern Fundamentalism, as Floyd would discover, heavily hinged on both

hypocrisy and bigotry, themes that would shine through in his champion work, Susannah. His

childhood wasn’t all revival meetings and travelling preachers though. As a young boy he

divided his attention between putting fingers to key, lead to paper, and eyes to text. A

champion of creating dramatic works he began studying creative writing at Spartanburg College

in 1943, but in 1945 chose to follow his piano teacher, Ernst Bacon, to Syracuse University to

continue studying with him. It was here Floyd realized his true passions lie in the world of

music, although his eye remained keenly affixed to the operatic stage. There Floyd would

receive up through a Master’s degree in both piano performance and composition. At Syracuse

he dipped his toes into the proverbial waters of staged composition in the form of a few one-act

plays based on a short story he wrote while attending Spartanburg. Shortly after the end of

World War II Floyd began his teaching career at Florida State University, and in his first year

taught many returning GIs who were interested in playing piano. Floyd had an interesting time

teaching them, saying

“It was certainly a curious way to begin one’s teaching and academic career. It was

also satisfying, because any progress was very marked.”

Ryan Kirk Opera Lit

Floyd remained at FSU until he was offered the M. D. Anderson Professorship at the

University of Houston in 1976, which he graciously accepted. There, he co-founded with

David Gockley the Houston Opera Studio, brought to life thanks to the University of Houston

and the Houston Grand Opera. The Houston Grand Opera commissioned three works, Bilby’s

Doll, Willie Stark, and Cold Sassy Tree (in 1976, 1981, and 1984, respectively) for production,

the middle of which being associated with the Kennedy Center. Although considering himself a

theatrical composer, saying: “I’ve never been interested in writing symphonies and string

quartets” he gained much attention for his orchestral song-cycle, Citizen of Paradise,

premiered in 1984 in collaboration with leading Metropolitan Opera mezzo-soprano Suzanne

Mentzer. Floyd as well created A Time to Dance, a work for chorus, orchestra, and bass-

baritone soloist, commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association and premiered by

the Westminster Choir and San Antonio Symphony at the 1994 ACDA convention. Throughout

his career he has received numerous awards, from the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1956, to

being elected the first chairman of the Opera/ Musical Theatre Panel upon creation by the

National Endowment for the Arts, to reviecing the National Opera Institute’s Award for service

to American Opera in 1983.

Floyd’s operatic works fall under the guise of the verismo tradition with the likes of

other 19th century dramatists including Ibsen and Hauptmann, but was always hailed for

replacing the usually fantastic subjects with events grounded in American folk life, often

including progressive moral implications. During his time at FSU Floyd wrote his most famous
Ryan Kirk Opera Lit

opera; Susannah, which even today remains one of the most popular American operas. In 1957,

a mere two years after its premier, it won the New York Music Critic’s Circle Award and was

subsequently entered as the American operatic representative at the 1958 World’s Fair in

Brussels. Floyd believed that bad libretto kills good operas and so took it upon himself to

assure the success of his venture into the operatic world by taking the “simple” route; by not

only composing the music but also writing the libretto as well. With only his youth in the Bible

belt and previous experience in story and playwriting to assist him, Floyd created this prolific

work only in the hopes that he could have at least one production. Susannah is based on the

apocryphal tale of Susannah and the Elders (a story already transferred into oratorio by

Handel) from the book of Daniel identified in the Roman Catholic and eastern Orthodox

churches. It also draws heavily from “McCarthyism,” the practice of unfounded accusation and

prosecution of alleged communists during the Second Red Scare of the 1950s, a bold move

considering its’ 1955 premier. Floyd wanted Susannah to depart from the mold of traditional

opera. Taking these principle themes of lust and hypocrisy and dropping them square in a rural

Tennessee Floyd created a world that paralleled his upbringing. He reinforced his depiction of

small town mob mentality with themes and textures taken right out of the American south. The

opera opens at a dance held by the town church with the innocent Susannah Polk dancing to

her heart’s content while the town wives, jealous of Susannah’s beauty and the attention she

attracts from the men of the town, gossip about her speculating that one cannot expect much

more from a girl raised by her drunkard of an older brother. The newly arrived reverend Olin

Blitch, ignoring the gossip of the wives, asks Susannah, a request which she happily obliges.
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The following morning while bathing in the creek near the small cottage in which she and her

brother, Sam, reside a few elders from the church, who happen to be looking for a stream to

use for baptism spot her and unable to acknowledge or otherwise appropriately deal with their

lust for her begin to spread rumors of her wickedness. Later that evening upon her arrival to the

church dinner she is send away and later finds out that the elders have denounced her for

bathing in the nude and has been accused of seducing Little Bat, the son of an elder. Seeking

advice Sam tells her that to remedy the situation she must publicly confess, a suggestion to

which she argues that she has nothing to confess. She proceeds to the church service where

Blitch is preaching where she is singled out to approach the front and declare her wickedness

and sin, upon which she runs from the service. Following the service Blitch travels to

Susannah’s house and offers to pray for her, but upon learning that her brother is out hunting

Blitch rapes her. After discovering that she was a virgin Blitch begs for Susannah’s forgiveness

and mercy which she adamantly denies him, laughing at him and saying she’s forgotten the

meaning of the word. Susannah then leaves to finds Sam and explain what has transpired.

Enraged, Sam takes his hunting shotgun and heads for the baptismal service in search of

retribution. Thinking she has driven her brother to murder the townspeople head for her house

to drive her out of their town on threat of lynching her brother, however, upon returning to find

Susannah awaiting their arrival with shotgun in hand the vigilantes leave. Left alone in exile

Susannah gathers the strength to face the cold world alone. Not only does Susannah draw

stunning and harsh parallels to the consensus mentality and mob-like social structures of the

period but it also serves as harsh criticism of the McCarthy practices.

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Works Cited

"Carlisle Floyd : Biography." Boosey & Hawkes. Boosey & Hawkes, 2012. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

"Central Opera Service Bulliten." CENTRAL OPERA SERVICE BULLETIN 22.4 (1981): 1-65.

Metropolitan Opera National Council. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

Kosman, Joshua. "Opera Review: 'Susannah' a Marvel Too Often Overlooked." SFGate. SFGate,

7 Sept. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

Kosman, Joshua. "Composer-librettist Carlisle Floyd Gives Opera Its Voice in 'Susannah'"

SFGate. SFGate, 27 Aug. 2014. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

Yang, Tabitha. "Restoration of Carlisle Floyd." Tallahassee Magazine. Tallahassee Magazine,

Sept. 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.