CARLISLE FLOYD’S OF MICE AND MEN A NEW SCHOLARLY EDITION

Abstract

Carlisle Floyd is one of the most prolific American operatic composers. His output includes Susannah (1955), the most frequently performed American opera after Porgy and Bess, and at least ten other operas including Of Mice and Men (1970), which has been performed all over the world to critical and popular acclaim. Of Mice and Men has become a major work in the American operatic canon but until now it has lacked a scholarly edition to address the complicated state of its source materials (in particular the loss of the manuscript full score) or even a properly engraved full score and set of orchestral parts. This thesis is conceived as a companion to a new score and materials printed by Boosey and Hawkes, which create for the first time a set of edited materials for performers and scholars alike. Its main part is the Critical Apparatus and Critical Notes, which explain the editorial process in detail and list and explain all editorial interventions and decisions. In addition the history of the opera’s creation is discussed and the differences between the final version and earlier ones is examined in detail. I sincerely hope that the new edition of Of Mice and Men and accompanying thesis may be just the first of a long overdue series of new, critical editions of Floyd’s operas.