Flower and Hawk
Music by Carlisle Floyd · libretto by Carlisle Floyd · premiered 1972 · at Houston Grand Opera
Flower and Hawk is a monodrama for soprano and orchestra with music and libretto composed by Carlisle Floyd. A performance lasts about 45 minutes. Flower and Hawk was Floyd's seventh opera, this one written for Soprano Phyllis Curtin. It had its premiere on May 16, 1972, with Phyllis Curtin and the Jacksonville Symphony conducted by Willis Page. The production was directed by Frank Corsaro.
Text from the Wikipedia article "Flower and Hawk", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
About the Composer
Carlisle Sessions Floyd (June 11, 1926 – September 30, 2021) was an American composer primarily known for his operas. These stage works, for which he wrote not only the music but also the librettos, typically engage with themes from the American South, particularly the 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 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…
Text from the Wikipedia article "Carlisle Floyd", licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Other Operas by Carlisle Floyd
- Bilby's Doll (1928)
- Cold Sassy Tree (1984)