Hearing The Pulitzers: Recent Episodes
hearingthepulitzers
Hearing the Pulitzers: A piece-by-piece, episode-by-episode exploration of the winners of the Pulitzer Prize in Music with hosts Andrew Granade and David Thurmaier.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a concerto by one of the most-performed living composers, Jennifer Higdon. Will they think the concerto deserves more play? How does it fit with the other Pulitzer concerto winners?
If you'd like more information about Jennifer Higdon, we recommend:
- This series of YouTube interviews between Higdon and Hilary Hahn
- Christina Reitz's book Jennifer Higdon: Composing in Color (McFarland, 2018)
- Laura Dallman's article "Considering autonomy and collaboration in three concerti by Jennifer Higdon" in The Routledge Handbook of Women's Work in Music (2021)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore Steve Reich's Double Sextet, but can't help but talk about his earlier work. How does this later piece stack up to classics like Music for 18 Musicians? Could we also view this as a lifetime achievement award for a composer whose music would not have been considered for the Pulitzer Prize in the 1970s?
If you'd like more information about Steve Reich, we recommend:
- Steve Reich, Writings on Music, 1968 - 2000 (Oxford University Press)
- Steve Reich, Conservations (Hanover)
- Keith Potter, Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass (Cambridge University Press)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore an oratorio for voice and percussion that mingles minimalism, Bach, and a fairy tale. Will that mixture prove potent for them? And has Andrew ever been more excited for a particular winning piece?
If you'd like more information about David Lang and The Little Match Girl Passion, we recommend:
- David Lang's website
- Dominic Wells's "In the Footsteps of Bach's St. Matthew Passion: The Passion Setting of David Lang and James MacMillan" Tempo 67, no. 264 (2013): 40–51.
- Tom Service's BBC podcast "The Listening Service" on The Match Girl Passion
- William Robin's Industry: Bang on a Can and New Music in the Marketplace New York: Oxford University Press, 2021
In this episode, Dave and Andrew listen to the first work without a written score to ever win a Pulitzer, Ornette Coleman's album Sound Grammar. What will they think about this new direction for the prize? And it wouldn't be Hearing the Pulitzers without discussing some drama from the judges! We also discuss a special certificate granted to a deserving late jazz musician.
If you'd like more information about Ornette Coleman, we recommend:
- Stephen Rush's book Free Jazz, Harmolodics, and Ornette Coleman (Routledge, 2016)
- Michael Stephan's book Experiencing Ornette Coleman: A Listener's Companion (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017)
- Nathan Frink's dissertation "Dancing in His Head: The Evolution of Ornette Coleman's Music and Compositional Philosophy" (University of Pittsburgh, 2016)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a piano concerto that the composer, Yehudi Wyner, said "permits expression of the raunchy as well as the refined." How will that duality sit with the hosts? Why doesn't a distinguished composer like Wyner get more performances?? And what former PP winners make an appearance in the episode?
If you'd like more information about Yehudi Wyner, we recommend:
- June Yin-Hsuan Chen's dissertation, "Analysis of Yehudi Wyner's Piano Concerto, 'Chiavi in Mano'"
- Chapter 17: "A Tale of Two Concertos: The Piano Concertos of Yehudi Wyner and Bernard Rands" in Observations on Music, Culture, and Politics by Daniel Asia
- David Cleary's "An Intoxicating Wyner at 70" in The New Music Connoisseur 8, no. 2 (2000) 9–10.
In 2020, Dave and Andrew released their 9th episode, covering Douglas Moore's forgotten opera Giants in the Earth without being able to hear it or even see the score. Now, after 50 years after the last performance, Giants in the Earth has appeared again in a new production by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. Will it be a hit or a miss?
If you'd like to know more about the performance, we recommend:
- Information about the live performance by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra
- The streaming performance of Giants in the Earth
- Joshua Barone's coverage of the performance in the New York Times, "An Operatic ‘Diamond on the Side of the Road’ Catches Light Again."
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a concerto for orchestra that achieved great heights by, in the words of its creator Steven Stucky, "standing on the shoulders of those who have already cleared the path ahead." But will our hosts appreciate the view? And who were some of the other nominees this year? We also discuss a rule change within the Pulitzer Prize award process that took effect with this year's winner.
If you'd like more information about Steven Stucky, we recommend:
- "Stucky, Hartke, Crockett: Conversations in Los Angeles." Contemporary Music Review, 10, no. 1 (1994): 51–73.
- Franklin Crawford, "Steal this concerto, please: An interview with Steven Stucky" Cornell Chronicle, April 21, 2005.
- Steven Stucky, Lutosławski and his Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).
- This Washington Post article about the changes to the music prize from June 2004.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew dive into a work inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest. Will the work live up to the Bard's reputation? And does this piece fit into the typical mold of a Pulitzer Prize winning work?
If you'd like more information about Paul Moravec, we recommend:
- Paul Moravec's personal website
- Dialogue with Moravec for the Kansas City Lyric Opera's production of The Shining
- Paul Moravec's short article “Tonality and Transcendence.” Contemporary Music Review vol. 6. no. 2 (1992): 39–42.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew go back to the events of 9/11 and listen to a piece memorializing the day. But will they find the piece moving or maudlin? And how does the piece hold up some 20+ years later? By this point, John Adams was a famous composer, but should this particular piece of his have won the prize?
If you'd like more information about John Adams, we recommend:
- His memoir Hallelujah Junction: Composing an American Life (you can read an excerpt at NPR).
- Dan Blim's article referenced in the show, "Disunity and the Commemoration of 9/11 in John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls" Journal of the Society for American Music, 7, no. 4 (November 2013): 382-420.
- Kalle Puolakka's article "Public Art and Dewey’s Democratic Experience: The Case of John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls" The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 74, No. 4 (2016): 371-81.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the first experimental composer to win the Pulitzer since Charles E. Ives. With that pedigree, what will they think of Henry Brant's Ice Field? And why is this piece called a "spatial" composition?
If you'd like to learn more about Henry Brant and Ice Field, we recommend:
- This video of the work with commentary from Michael Tilson Thomas and organist Cameron Carpenter
- Maria Anna Harley's article “An American in Space: Henry Brant’s ‘Spatial Music.’” American Music 15, no. 1 (1997): 70–92.
- Frank Oteri's 2002 interview with Henry Brant in New Music Box
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the symphony of John Corigliano they don't know. After appreciating Corigliano's first and third symphonies, what will they think of the second? This piece, a rescoring and revision of Corigliano's String Quartet, is another in a recent stretch of winning works that began in a different form.
If you'd like to learn more about Corigliano, we recommend:
- This interview with Corigliano by Living the Classical Life
- Corigliano's composer's note about the Symphony No. 2
- Elizabeth Bergman's “Of Rage and Remembrance, Music and Memory: The Work of Mourning in John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1 and Choral Chaconne.” American Music 31, no. 3 (2013): 340–61
In this episode, Dave and Andrew talk about a curious winner for the year 2000 since it was originally composed 25 years earlier! What will they think about this blast from the past? It's also the first opera to win the Pulitzer Prize in many decades.
If you'd like more information about Lewis Spratlan, we recommend:
- This video of Spratlan talking about the origins of the opera before the full premiere by the Santa Fe Opera.
- This video of Spratlan detailing the opera's history with the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
- A. Robert Lauer's article "The Santa Fe Opera’s Life Is a Dream" Bulletin of the Comediantes, Volume 63, Number 2 (2011): 155-60.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a concerto featuring an instrument not often put into a concerto setting: the flute. But its title also promises a balance among three forces instead of a featured soloist. What will they think of this contradictory piece?
If you'd like more information about Melinda Wagner, we recommend:
- Frank Oteri's excellent interview with Melinda Wagner from 2015
- Yujia Xia's dissertation "Melinda Wagner and Her Piano Concerto: Extremity of Sky" from 2021.
- Mark Alburger, "Winning the Pulitzer Can Brighten Your Whole Day: An Interview with Melinda Wagner," 20th-Century Music 6, no. 6 (1999): 1-7.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew return to the venerable string quartet for a piece that mixes tonality, modernist music, Baroque dances, and Medieval modality. But will this mixture work for them?
If you'd like more information about Aaron Jay Kernis and the String Quartet #2, we recommend:
- Leta Miller's book Aaron Jay Kernis, the first biography of the composer that we reference several times in the episode.
- A conversation between Kernis and Frank Oteri right after the biography was published.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew go deep into the tangled history surrounding the first jazz piece to ever win the Pulitzer Prize in Music, Wynton Marsalis's Blood on the Fields. But what will they think of the changes to the Pulitzer that allowed a largely-improvised piece to win an award previously reserved for notated music?
If you'd like more information about Wynton Marsalis, we recommend:
- Wynton Marsalis's official website
- Moving to Higher Ground: How Jazz Can Change Your Life by Wynton Marsalis and Geoffrey Ward
- David Stowe's article "The Diasporic Imagination of Wynton Marsalis," in The Black Urban Community, edited by Gayle T. Tate and Lewis A. Randolph (Palgrave, 2006)
- Matthew Alan Thomas's dissertation "Dynamic canons: How the Pulitzer Prize, documentary film, and the U.S. Department of State are changing the way we think about jazz," University of Southern California, 2011
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a song cycle in all but name, George Walker's Lilacs. From the outside, this win looks like another lifetime achievement award, but is it? And does Lilacs remind them of music from an earlier period in the Pulitzer's history?
If you'd like more information about George Walker or Lilacs, we recommend:
- Ginger Sharnell Jones-Robinson's DMA document, "An Analysis of Selected Vocal Works by George Walker" from the University of South Carolina, 2023.
- Mikey Thomas Terry's interview with George Walker, The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 84, No. 3 (2000), pp. 372-88
- This short documentary on Walker and his music
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a composer from an earlier generation winning a Pulitzer in the twilight of his career. What will they think of Stringmusic?
If you'd like more information about Morton Gould, we recommend:
- J. Wesley Flinn's article, "Developing Variation in the Late Work of Morton Gould and Why It Matters" Gamut vol. 10. no. 1 (2021)
- Lee Evan's dissertation, "Morton Gould: His Life and Music," Columbia University, 1978.
- Peter Goodman's book, Morton Gould: American Salute (Amadeus Press, 2003).
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss one of the composers Dave wishes he had met, Gunther Schuller. But does Schuller's winning work Of Reminiscences and Reflections live up to his high expectations?
If you'd like more information about Gunther Schuller, we recommend:
- Schuller's autobiography, A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty
- The Gunther Schuller Society
- Read "The Compleat Musician in the Complete Conservatory" in Schuller's collection of essays, Musings.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew consider one of the few concertos to win the Pulitzer Prize, this time for an instrument whose sound some critics claimed grew "tiresome." Will they agree? And what famous composer's music is quoted in the piece?
If you'd like more information about Christopher Rouse, we recommend:
- This interview with Joe Alessi mentioned in the episode.
- R. Burkhardt Reiter's 2005 dissertation, Symmetry and Narrative in Christopher Rouse's Trombone Concerto with white space waiting (an original composition for chamber orchestra).
- Laurie Shulman's article, "Christopher Rouse: An Overview" in Tempo, no. 199 (1997): 2-8.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew address one of the most controversial awards in Pulitzer history. What happened in 1992 and was Wayne Peterson's music worthy of the ruckus that grew around it?
If you'd like more information about Wayne Peterson, we recommend:
- Joshua Kosman's Obituary of the composer in the New York Times.
- Peterson's professional management service (with discography, video, etc.)
- The Boston Modern Orchestra Project's recording of The Face of the Night, The Heart of the Dark.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew are joined by Howard Pollack, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Music at the University of Houston. Dr. Pollack is the author of acclaimed biographies of several Pulitzer Prize winners from the early years, including a recent biography of two-time winner Samuel Barber.
About Howard Pollack
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the second Pulitzer Prize in music won by a female composer, Shulamit Ran for her Symphony, in 1991. What will they think about this fourth freely-atonal work in a row to win the prize? And what snags did they run into researching this episode?
As mentioned in the podcast, here is Shulamit Ran performing with the New York Philharmonic in 1965:
If you'd like more information on Shulamit Ran, we recommend:
- Malcolm Miller, "Between Two Cultures: A Conversation with Shulamit Ran" Tempo, 2004, 58(227):15-32.
- "Casting Musical Spells: Time, Passion, and Inevitability in the Music of Shulamit Ran," In: Kouvaras, L., Williams, N., Grenfell, M. (eds) The Composer, Herself. Palgrave Macmillan (2023).
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a composer who played with Benny Goodman as a jazz pianist, and then embraced Arnold Schoenberg's musical ideas as a member of the academy. What kind of music does that concoction create? Listen to this episode on Duplicates, Powell's winning piece for two pianos and orchestra.
If you'd like more information about Mel Powell, we recommend:
- Sally Lamb, “An Analytical Guide to the Works of Mel Powell.” DMA diss., Cornell University, 1988.
- Jeffrey Perry, "Constructing a Relevant Past: Mel Powell's Beethoven Analogs" American Music 29, no. 4 (2011): 491–535.
Finally, you might like to see Mel Powell in action with Benny Goodman:
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a work for string orchestra that Kyle Gann opined was the first experimental composition to win the Pulitzer since Charles Ives. Given how much Dave loves Ives, how does he react to Whispers Out of Time? How does the piece fit in the context of music written in the late 1980s?
If you'd like more information about Roger Reynolds, we recommend:
- Kyle Gann's American Music in the 20th Century (Schirmer, 1997).
- Roger Reynolds's "Ideals and Realities: A Composer in America" American Music Vol. 25, No. 1 (2007): 4-49.
In this special bonus episode, Dave and Andrew talk with 1988 Pulitzer Prize Winner William Bolcom. What is the difference between the Etudes and the New Etudes? What impact did John Cage have on his career? And who is answering the phone? We hope you enjoy hearing from him about these insights and many more!
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the first solo piano work to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. And they try to answer the question–if these are "new" etudes, what are the "old" etudes? They also examine how Bolcom incorporates various styles and techniques into the etudes, and ponder the set's historical place among other etude collections.
If you'd like more information about William Bolcom, we recommend:
- Henry S. Jones's dissertation "William Bolcom's Twelve New Etudes for Piano" (Louisiana State University, 1994).
- Ji Sun Lee's dissertation "Revolutionary Etudes: The Expansion of Piano Technique Exploited in the Twelve New Etudes of William Bolcom" (University of Arizona, 2001)
- William Bolcom's website.
And if you'd like to read Dave's interview with Marc-André Hamelin (who premiered the entire set), you can find it here.
In this special bonus episode, Dave and Andrew talk with Pulitzer Winner John Harbison. Why did he decide to play the tuba? What was it like to study composition with two-time winner Walter Piston? What was the impetus for looking at the darker side of Christmas in The Flight Into Egypt? We hope you enjoy hearing from him about these insights and many more!
In this episode Dave and Andrew discuss a composer known for his eclecticism, who writes music that features the influence of jazz, Stravinskian neoclassicism, Schoenbergian serialism, and a variety of popular idioms. But will that mixture of styles win them over when applied to a Biblical text about the "dark side" of Christmas?
If you'd like more information about Harbison, we recommend:
- Brian Galante's dissertation "John Harbison's The Flight into Egypt: An Analysis for Performance," University of North Texas, 2008.
- Mike Seabrook's "John Harbison and His Music," Tempo 197 (July 1996): 7–11.
- Tom Jacob's profile in the San Francisco Classical Voice.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss someone they know primarily as a music theorist. George Perle is celebrated for his theoretical work on twelve-tone theory and Alban Berg's music, but how does he stack up as a composer? And what do they think of the first woodwind quintet to win a Pulitzer?
For more information about George Perle, we recommend:
- George Perle, Twelve-Tone Tonality, 2nd edition (University of California Press, 1996).
- George Perle, The Operas of Alban Berg, Vol I and Vol II (University of California Press, 1989).
- Elliott Antokoletz, "George Perle: Man, Composer, and Theorist," Theory and Practice 33 (2008): 55-63.
- Steven Rosenhaus, "Harmonic Motion in George Perle's Wind Quintet No. 4" Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1995.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew continue discussing the streak of Neo-Romantic winners of the Pulitzer Prize in music with Stephen Albert's Symphony RiverRun. But will this symphony win them over?
For more information about Stephen Albert, we recommend:
- Ron Petrides's dissertation "Pitch Organization in Stephen Albert's Symphony RiverRun: A Study in Modal Combinations and Tonal Centricity" PhD Diss, NYU, 2008.
- Holly Watkins's article "The Pastoral After Environmentalism: Nature and Culture in Stephen Albert's Symphony: RiverRun" Current Musicology, no. 84 (2007): 7-24.
- Stephen Albert's Website (maintained by Alissa Grimaldi)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a composer associated with New Romanticism. But is that label reductive or does it accurately describe Bernard Rands's music? How about this song cycle based on poems about the sun?
If you'd like more information about Rands, we recommend:
- Will Robin's article "Horizons ’83, Meet the Composer, and
New Romanticism’s New Marketplace" in Musical Quarterly, Vol. 102, nos. 2-3 (2019): 158–99. - Benjamin Rivera's thesis "An Introduction to the Musical Language of Bernard Rands, as Demonstrated in Canti d'Amor" from Roosevelt University in 2005.
- Bruce Duffie's interview with Bernard Rands.
In this special bonus episode, Dave and Andrew talk with Pulitzer Winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. What did she learn studying at Florida State University and with former Pulitzer winners Roger Sessions and Elliott Carter? And why does she have a framed "Peanuts" cartoon in her studio? We hope you enjoy hearing from her about these insights and more!
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the first female Pulitzer Prize winner, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, who wrote a symphony of all things. What will they think about the first symphony to win the prize since Walter Piston's Symphony No. 7 back in 1961?
As promised in the episode, here's Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's appearance in Peanuts.
If you'd like more information about Zwilich, we recommend:
- Julie Schnepel's article "Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Symphony No. 1: Developing Variation in the 1980s" in Indiana Theory Review Vol. 10 (Spring and Fall 1989): 1-19
- Anthony J. Palmer's "Interview with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich" in Philosophy of Music Education Review Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring 2011): 80-99.
- Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's website.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the third winner of the Pulitzer Prize to study with Horatio Parker at Yale, Roger Sessions, for his Concerto for Orchestra. Since the other two winners were Charles Ives and Quincy Porter, it isn't a shock that Sessions was 85 years old when he won. What will they think about this blast from the past?
If you'd like to learn more about Roger Sessions, we recommend:
- Roger Sessions on Music: Collected Essays, edited by Edward T. Cone (Princeton University Press, 1979).
- Andrea Olmstead's book Roger Sessions: A Biography (Routledge, 2008).
- The Correspondence of Roger Sessions by Andrea Olmstead andRoger Sessions (Northeastern University Press, 1992)
- The Roger Sessions Society
In this episode, Dave and Andrew cover the fourth and final time (so far) that the Pulitzer Board decided not to award a music prize. Unlike 1965, which was the last year they didn't award the prize, 1981 wasn't mired in controversy. So why did the Pulitzer Board not award a prize and what should have won? As a bonus, Dave and Andrew also discuss lessons learned after covering 40 years of the Pulitzer Prize and make predictions for what's to come!
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a composer Aaron Copland called a "rare find among composers — a creator with a truly original gift." Will they agree with Copland about David Del Tredici's In Memory of a Summer Day?
If you'd like more information about David Del Tredici, we recommend:
- Contemporary Music Review's issue on New Tonality, volume 6, issue 2 (1992), including Paul Moravec's interview with Del Tredici.
- J. D. Dolan's article on Del Tredici in BOMB, No. 60 (Summer 1997): 42-45
- James E. Chute's dissertation "The reemergence of tonality in contemporary music as shown in the works of David Del Tredici, Joseph Schwantner, and John Adams" (University of Cincinnati, 1991)
- A recent interview with Del Tredici
In this episode, Andrew and Dave explore a composer they first encountered with his music for wind band. In his Pulitzer-winning work, Schwantner fashioned a composition critics have described as creating a "poetic illusion—but only an illusion— of movement." Will this illusion win them over?
If you'd like more information about Schwantner we recommend:
- James Chute's dissertation "The reemergence of tonality in contemporary music as shown in the works of David Del Tredici, Joseph Schwantner, and John Adams" (University of Cincinnati, 1991)
- Schwantner's website
- Cynthia Folio's article "The synthesis of traditional and contemporary elements in Joseph Schwantner's 'Sparrows,'" Perspectives of New Music, vol. 24, no. 1 (1985): 184-96.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew record their first live podcast event! In front of the Kansas City Conducting Symposium, they discuss an unusual work for the Pulitzers in that Michael Colgrass featured the percussion section of the orchestra. Will they enjoy this departure from standard orchestration?
If you'd like more information about Colgrass, we recommend:
- Colgrass's autobiographies Adventures of an American Composer and My Lessons with Kumi
- James Donald Broadhurst's dissertation "The early drum-melodic music of Michael Colgrass and the evolution of the Colgrass drum" (The Ohio State University, 2005)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a Pulitzer winner that has so fallen out of the repertoire that there is no commercially available recording. But that doesn't mean there aren't interesting things to learn about the state of music in the late 1970s! For example, why was there an extra meeting of the jury, and did all the members participate in the deliberations? Listen to find out!
If you'd like more information about Richard Wernick, we recommend:
- This interview with Wernick from 2021 with the Network for New Music
- Michael Rose's dissertation "Unity in diversity: the synthesis of compositional approaches in Richard Wernick's Vision of terror and wonder"
- Bruce Duffie's interview with Wernick
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In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a composer better known for his songs who won for an orchestral work, Ned Rorem. They may enjoy The Nantucket Songs but what will they think about Air Music?
And was Air Music actually supposed to win the Pulitzer Prize??? Tune in to find out.
If you'd like to know more about Ned Rorem, we recommend:
- Ned Rorem, The Paris and the New York Diaries, 1951-1961, Open Road Media
- J.D. McClatchy's 1999 interview with Ned Rorem in The Paris Review, Issue 150
- A Ned Rorem Reader (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the first song cycle to ever win the Pulitzer Prize, Dominick Argento's From the Diary of Virginia Woolf. Argento always remarked that his music balanced between his desire for fantasy and his need for control. Do Dave and Andrew think this work has that balance?
If you'd like more information about Dominick Argento, we recommend:
- Jacquelyn Matava's dissertation "Dominick Argento's From the Diary of Virginia Woolf: A Preparation Guide for Performers" (Indiana University, 2014)
- Russell Platt's New Yorker article "The Elegant Musical Vessels of Dominick Argento"
- Argento's memoir, Catalogue Raisonnâe as Memoir: A Composer's Life (University of Minnesota Press, 2004)
Please write a review of us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to the podcast -- thanks!
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss a composer who is usually considered a 12-tone composer, but who also rejected labels. He famously told the New York Times in 1997 that "If anyone writes program notes and says I am a Serial or a 12-tone composer, I am infuriated." How do Dave and Andrew label Martino's music? How does Notturno fit into the style of other winners in the early 1970s?
If you'd like more information about Donald Martino and Notturno, we recommend:
- James Praznik's 2022 dissertation "Dreaming of Single Hexachords in an Infinite Expanse: An Analysis of Movement II of Donald Martino’s Notturno"
- The collection of articles in tribute to Martino in Perspectives of New Music 29/2 (Summer 1991)
- Bruce Duffie's interview with Martino
In this episode, Dave and Andrew revisit Elliott Carter, who won his first Pulitzer in 1960. They awarded his String Quartet No. 2 two big thumbs up. Will they be as enthusiastic about Carter's String Quartet No. 3?
If you'd like more information about Elliott Carter and his String Quartet No. 3, we recommend:
- This performance of the String Quartet No. 3 by the Jack Quartet.
- Andrew W. Mead's article "Pitch Structure in Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 3" in Perspectives of New Music, vol. 22, no. 1/2 (Autumn, 1983 - Summer, 1984): 31-60
- Laura Emmery's book Compositional Process in Elliott Carter's String Quartets: A Study in Sketches (Routledge, 2020)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew look through Windows at Jacob Druckman's compositional style and legacy in American music. Druckman taught at Yale and the Aspen Music Festival for years, shaping generations of young composers, and coined the term "New Romanticism" when he curated the Horizons Festivals at the NY Philharmonic in the mid-1980s. Yet today, his attempts to merge modernist techniques with audience-friendly sounds are largely forgotten. Should they be?
If you'd like to know more about Druckman, we recommend:
- Nicholas Papador's dissertation Jacob Druckman: A Bio-Bibliography and Guide to Research, Northwestern University, 2003.
- Druckman's interview in Cole Gagne and Tracy Caras's Soundpieces: Interviews with American Composers (Scarecrow Press, 1982)
- Bruce Duffie speaks with Jacob Druckman
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the first episode they have a personal connection to as Andrew has performed Mario Davidovsky's Synchronisms No. 6. How does Dave react to the third music winner to incorporate electronic sounds, and how do those sounds hold up 50 years later?
If you'd like more information about Davidovsky, we recommend:
- Wesley True's lecture “Men, Music, and Machines. Some Thoughts Generated by the Practice and Performance of Mario Davidovsky’s Synchronisms #6 for Piano and Electronics” published in the Journal of the American Liszt Society vol. 9 (June 1981): 50-54.
- Eric Chasalow's "Mario Davidovsky, An Introduction," Agni no. 50 (1999): 195-200.
- Davidovsky's bio page on the Edition Peters site.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the first fully electronic work to ever win a Pulitzer Prize, even though it was the only electronic work its composer ever wrote. Did Charles Wuorinen set a new standard for Pulitzer-winning music or was electronic music a flash in the pan?
If you're interested in learning more about Wuorinen, we recommend:
- Charles Wuorinen's extensive website
- Elliott Schwartz's article "Electronic Music: A Thirty-Year Retrospective" in Music Educators Journal, Vol. 64, No. 7 (March 1978): 36-41.
- Perspective of New Music's "Charles Wuorinen: A Celebration at 80," Vol. 56, No. 2 (Summer 2018)
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore a composer renowned today for his works for wind band, but celebrated during his lifetime for music that was, in Nicolas Slonimsky's famous phrase, "oxygenated by humanistic romanticism." Join us as we try and tease out exactly what Slonimsky meant by exploring Husa's String Quartet No. 3.
If you'd like more information about Husa, we recommend:
- Lawrence W. Hartzell's "Karel Husa: The Man and the Music" in The Musical Quarterly Vol. 62, No. 1 (Jan., 1976), pp. 87-104
- Susan Hayes Hitchens's Karel Husa: A Bio-bibliography, published by Greenwood Press in 1991.
- New York Times obituary for Husa by Steve Smith: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/arts/music/karel-husa-pulitzer-prize-winning-composer-dies-at-95.html
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore an early work by a composer who transformed American music with his singular vision. But how did a composer who concocted a personal aesthetic reflecting a fascination with "life, death, love, the smell of the earth, the sounds of the wind and the sea" impact artists like David Bowie and directors like William Friedkin (who used Crumb's music in The Exorcist)?
If you'd like more information about George Crumb, we recommend:
- George Crumb's New York Times obituary
- Thomas Riis's "A Conversation with George Crumb" in The American Music Research Center Journal, Vol. 3 (Jan 1, 1993)
- Crumb's article "Music: Does It Have a Future?" in The Kenyon Review Vol. 2, No. 3 (Summer, 1980), pp. 115-122
- Crumb's website: http://www.georgecrumb.net
We're back with Season 2 of "Hearing The Pulitzers!"
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the first music winner to incorporate electronics, Leon Kirchner. Kirchner wanted to expand human capabilities by combining live performance with recorded electronic sounds. Although he did not focus his music on electronics after the 3rd Quartet, Kirchner's award ultimately set a trend for the Pulitzer the next few years, as the jury became more and more accepting of new sounds and timbres.
If you'd like more information about Leon Kirchner, we recommend:
- Robert Rigg's biography Leon Kirchner: Composer, Performer, and Teacher (University of Rochester Press, 2010)
- Bruce Duffie's 1990 interview with Leon Kirchner
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the first music winner in three years, Leslie Bassett. After two decades of honoring fairly conservative, European-derived pieces and two years of not honoring any pieces of music, what direction will the Pulitzer go in the late 1960s?
If you'd like more information about Leslie Bassett, we recommend:
- Leslie Bassett's homepage
- Ellen S. Johnson's Leslie Bassett: a Bio-Bibliography, published in 1994 by Greenwood Press
- Stephanie Brunelli's dissertation, The use of the piano in the twentieth-century orchestra: A study of Pulitzer Prize compositions by Copland, Bassett, and Druckman
In this episode, Dave and Andrew cover the third year the Pulitzer Board decided not to award a music prize. The 1964 decision not to award a prize might have been shocking, but nothing could have prepared the Pulitzer Board from the fallout of their decision in 1965. Music jury members resigned, the press had a field day, and the trajectory of music winners changed dramatically. We'll chart all the intrigue, including what Duke Ellington had to do with this scandal.
In this episode, Andrew and Dave discuss the second time the Pulitzer Board decided not to award a music prize. In fact, in 1964, they did not give awards in the categories of drama, music, and fiction. It was the first time since the Pulitzer Prizes began in 1917 that three separate categories did not have an awardee. To deepen the intrigue, the music board was split, and at least one member wanted to give a music award (and wasn't happy with the other members). We discuss all the drama!
What happened in 1964 and what were the ramifications on later music winners?
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the third person to win two Pulitzers, Samuel Barber. Barber's prize-winning opera Vanessa was a qualified hit in Episode 16, but how does his Piano Concerto stack up?
(Photo of Pianist John Browning, 1966)
If you'd like more information about Samuel Barber or his Piano Concerto No. 1, we recommend:
- Emily Lu's 1986 dissertation from the University of Wisconsin, "The Piano Concerto of Samuel Barber"
- Jonathan Blumhofer's fascinating discussion of the piece in "Rethinking the Repertoire #13 – Samuel Barber’s Piano Concerto"
- The interview with pianist John Browning in the Peter Dickinson edited volume Samuel Barber Remembered (Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2010.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew turn to the fifth opera to win a Pulitzer Prize, Robert Ward's The Crucible. The opera is based on Arthur Miller's award-winning play that even today is considered an American classic. Does the opera hold up as well?
If you're interested in more information about Robert Ward or The Crucible, we recommend:
- Robert Kolt's book Robert Ward's The Crucible: Creating an American Musical Nationalism.
- Robert Kolt's article "The Devil Made Me Do It! History to Play to Opera: Media Transformation in Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible'" in the Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring, 2014), pp. 55-76.
- Charles Patrick Wolver's 1986 dissertation "Robert Ward's The Crucible: A Critical Commentary."
In this episode, Dave and Andrew return to Walter Piston, who first won the Pulitzer in 1948 for his Third Symphony. In 1961, not even a year into his retirement, Piston won again for his Seventh Symphony. Although Piston's music isn't performed much today, Carol Oja has argued that "From the perspective of the early 21st century, the music of Walter Piston sounds mighty appealing." Will Dave and Andrew agree?
If you're interested in more information about Walter Piston's teaching, we recommend:
- Piston/DeVoto, Harmony
- Piston, Counterpoint
- Piston, Orchestration
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss the first Pulitzer winner of the 1960s, Elliott Carter for his Second String Quartet. Carter's work has been frequently performed, widely celebrated, and heavily analyzed, but will it be a hit or a miss for our hosts?
If you're interested in learning more about Carter or his Second String Quartet, we recommend:
- David Thurmaier's "'A Disturbing Lack of Musical and Stylistic Continuity'? Elliott Carter, Charles Ives, and Musical Borrowing" Current Musicology, 96 (Fall 2013), 97-124.
- Tiina Koivisto's "Multilayered Rhythms, Meter, and Notated Meter: Temporal Processes in Elliott Carter's Second String Quartet" Theory and Practice, 34 (2009), 141-171.
- Elliott Carter's website, a well-maintained source of information about his music and recent recordings and performances.
- Laura Emmery's study on the string quartets (including the 3rd, which will win the Pulitzer Prize in 1973): Compositional Process in Elliott Carter's String Quartets
In this episode, Dave and Andrew discuss John La Montaine's first piano concerto, a work that made a splash in the late 1950s only to disappear from the repertoire. Similarly, La Montaine has faded from view, so what made this work catch the Pulitzer committee's attention?
If you'd like to learn more about John La Montaine, we recommend:
- Frank Oteri's 2003 interview "Rediscovering John La Montaine"
- Bruce Duffie's 1989 interview with John La Montaine
- Erica Beth Weintraub's article “John La Montaine: Life on the Edge” in Music Educators Journal, vol 69, no. 7 (March 1983): 41-43
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the fourth opera to win the Pulitzer Prize in the 1950s, Samuel Barber's Vanessa. In the mid-20th century United States, Samuel Barber was one of the most performed American composers, known especially for his beautiful vocal music that closely mirrored European models. But with the Pulitzer traditionally awarding works that are more "American" in sound, does Vanessa represent a departure from convention for Barber or the Pulitzer board?
If you'd like more information about Samuel Barber or Vanessa we recommend:
- This fascinating background article in Pasatiempo by James M. Keller
- Howard Pollack's article "Samuel Barber, Jean Sibelius, and the Making of an American Romantic" in The Musical Quarterly, vol. 84, vo. 2 (Summer, 2000): 175-205
- Barbara B. Heyman's biography Samuel Barber: The Composer and His Music, 2nd edition (Oxford University Press, 2020)
- A synopsis of the opera
Norman Dello Joio is one of those composers you might know depending on your background. Sing choral music? You might know him from A Jubilant Song. Play in band? You might have performed his Fantasies on a Theme by Haydn. He was accomplished and prolific composer, but we did not know his Pulitzer winning Meditations on Ecclesiastes before this episode. Join Dave and Andrew as they explore if it fits into the list of winners in the 1950s or is an outlier.
If you want to know more about Dello Joio, we recommend:
- Dello Joio's website (which was last updated in 2009, but still has useful documentation on his life and career)
- Edward Downes's article "The Music of Norman Dello Joio" in The Musical Quarterly Vol. 48, No. 2 (April, 1962): 149-172.
- Ann Meyer's interview with Norman Dello Joio published in Music Educators Journal Vol 74, Issue 2 (1987): 53-56.
Like Gian Carlo Menotti before him, Ernst Toch was a European composer who won an American prize. Unlike Menotti, Toch did not have the same success in the United States that he had in Europe and never fully identified as an "American" composer. Join us as we find out how his third symphony, inspired by his experience as a Jew fleeing the Nazis in the 1930s, might tell us something about Toch's place in American musical history.
If you'd like to learn more about Ernst Toch, we recommend:
- This fascinating article about Toch's experience fleeing the Nazis written by his grandson.
- Toch's Geographical Fugue, one of the first examples of "Gesprochene Musik."
- Paul A. Pisk and Manton Monroe Marble's 1938 survey of Toch's music written for The Musical Quarterly.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the first repeat winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Music. We covered Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul in Episode 8 and now he's back again with The Saint of Bleecker Street. We were generally favorable toward The Consul, finding it an effective, if derivative opera. Will Menotti score another hit with this story of a young woman who displays the stigmata?
If you're interested in The Saint of Bleecker Street, we recommend:
- The original Broadway cast recording from 1954
- The TV movie version of the opera, broadcast on NBC in 1955
We also recommend exploring the Spoleto festival a bit more, both the Festival of Two Worlds held in Spoleto, Italy and the Spoleto Festival hosted in Charleston, South Carolina, USA.
Quincy Porter bridges many of the themes we've seen so far in the podcast: he was the last student of nineteenth-century American composer Horatio Parker (who also taught 1947 prize winner Charles Ives), he taught composition at an Ivy League school (Yale, in this case) for many years, and he was celebrated for his orchestral music during his lifetime, but is virtually forgotten today.
From that list, and from our previous episodes on Howard Hanson, Walter Piston, and Douglas Moore, you might think you have a good sense of what Porter's Ivy League New England musical style might be, but are you right? Join us to find out.
For more about Quincy Porter:
1) https://composers.com/composers/quincy-porter
2) https://necmusic.edu/archives/quincy-porter
It might surprise you to learn that over the past 80 years, there have been a few years when the Pulitzer Board has elected not to award a prize, even when the music committee had a recommendation. In this episode we explore the first of these "no prize" years, discuss what pieces were considered, and make a guess as to why the Pulitzer Board chose to not award a winner.
As we move further into the 1950s, we're entering the doldrums of the Pulitzer Prizes, where few winners have entered the repertoire. Gail Kubik was a phenomenon in his day, writing equally well for the concert hall and the movie theatre. His Symphony Concertante began life as a film score before he extracted themes to craft this work featuring viola, trumpet, and piano. So why have you never heard of the work or, most likely its creator?
If you'd like to learn more about Kubik, we recommend:
- His delightful score for the Academy Award-winning cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing.
- The extensive information from Kubik's archive at Kansas State University.
- Alfred W. Cochran's article "The Functional Music of Gail Kubik: Catalyst for the Concert Hall" in Indiana Theory Review, Vol. 19 (Spring/Fall 1998), 1-11
Douglas Moore is a name we've encountered before on Hearing the Pulitzers because he was instrumental in helping establish the Pulitzer Prizes. A decade later, he finally won his own Pulitzer for an opera based on Ole Edvart Rølvaag's novel Giants in the Earth. The opera follows the triumphs and tragedies of Norwegian settlers in the Dakota Territories of 1873, but there isn't even a recording today and the score is hard to find. Is its obscurity warranted?
If you'd like to learn more about Moore, we recommend:
- Jerry L. McBride's Douglas Moore: A Bio-bibliography
- The website dedicated to his more famous and much more performed opera The Ballad of Baby Doe
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the eighth Pulitzer Prize in Music, Gian Carlo Menotti for his opera The Consul.
In the middle part of the 20th century, Menotti was one of the most famous composers in America, particularly after his perennial Christmas favorite Amahl and the Night Visitors premiered on December 24, 1951, as the first opera composed for television. The Consul was one of his most celebrated operas during his lifetime and the first opera to receive the Pulitzer, but does it still resonate today?
If you'd like to learn more about Menotti, we recommend:
- Donald Hixon's Bio-Bibliography on Menotti (Greenwood Press, 2000)
- A wonderful interview with Menotti from 1997 conducted by Gene Brooks
- The Youtube channel of the Gian Carlo Menotti Archive where you can discover historical recordings of Menotti's works and interviews from many connected to his life and work
- A performance of the opera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekrx98zKnk0
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the seventh Pulitzer Prize in Music, Virgil Thomson for his score to the film Louisiana Story.
Virgil Thomson is perhaps best known for his operas like Four Saints in Three Acts or his precise and incisive music criticism at the New York Herald Tribune. But he was also a pioneer in film scoring, particularly documentary film scoring during the Great Depression. In 1936, he wrote his first film score for Pare Lorentz's The Plow that Broke the Plains, and he followed it up with The River two years later for the same director. A decade later, the father of the narrative documentary film, Robert Flaherty, hired Thomson to score what would be his last film. As the only piece of movie music to ever win the Pulitzer, Louisiana Story is at least a curiosity in the prize's history, but does it stand up today?
If you'd like more information about Virgil Thomson we recommend:
- Anthony Tommasini's magisterial biography Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle (New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999).
- The Library of America's collection of Virgil Thomson's writings, edited by Tim Page
- The Virgil Thomson Papers at Yale University: https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/6/resources/10673
- Thomson's website page with more resources: http://www.virgilthomson.org/resources/further-research
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the sixth Pulitzer Prize in Music, Walter Piston for his Symphony No. 3.
Walter Piston was a long-time teacher at Harvard University (Leonard Bernstein and Elliott Carter count among his students) and author of several influential textbooks, including Principles of Harmonic Analysis (1933) and Orchestration (1955). He was also, according to Aaron Copland, “one of the most expert craftsmen American music can boast.” His Symphony No. 3, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1948, displays that craftsmanship but also the rich, sonorous sound he could pull from the orchestra. But how does it stand up today?
If you'd like more information about Walter Piston we recommend:
- Carol Oja's essay "Reappraising Walter Piston"
- Elliott Carter's summary of his teacher's music "Walter Piston" in The Musical Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 3 (July 1946): 354-375.
- Howard Pollack's book Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and His Students, from Elliott Carter to Frederick Rzewski (Scarecrow Press, 1992).
- The first recording of the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18IybqdI5dw
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the fifth Pulitzer Prize in Music, Charles E. Ives for his Symphony No. 3, "The Camp Meeting."
This piece, largely scored/written between 1908-11, features many of Ives's favorite techniques, including musical borrowing, cumulative form, and mixtures of harmonic techniques all wrapped up in a short and compact chamber symphony. Ives himself had mixed feelings about the piece, thinking it was a transitional "crossway between the older ways and the newer ways," but it caught the attention of the Pulitzer board through its premiere performance in New York conducted by Lou Harrison in 1946. It was also the first piece to win the Pulitzer Prize that written much earlier than its premiere, and it helped propel Ives and his music into the public eye.
If you'd like more information about Ives or his Symphony No. 3, we recommend:
1) The Charles Ives Society: www.charlesives.org
2) Charles Ives, Memos, edited by John Kirkpatrick (W.W. Norton, 1971)
3) J. Peter Burkholder, All Made of Tunes (Yale University Press, 1995)
4) Mark Zobel, The Third Symphony of Charles Ives. Vol. 6 CMS Sourcebooks in American Music, edited by Michael Budds. (Pendragon Press, 2009).
5) A new recording by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony: https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SFS-Media/charles-Ives-Nos3-4
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the fourth Pulitzer Prize in Music, Leo Sowerby for Canticle of the Sun. You might not have heard of Sowerby unless you regularly perform church music, but in the mid-20th century he was a powerhouse, especially in the Chicago musical scene. See what we think about Sowerby's setting of Francis of Assisi's hymn and why we think Sowerby might be overlooked today.
If you'd like more information about Canticle of the Sun and Leo Sowerby, we recommend:
- Brice Gerlach's dissertation "Leo Sowerby's The Canticle of the Sun: An Analysis for Performance."
- Timothy Sharp's article "The Choral Music of Leo Sowerby: A Centennial Perspective," which you can find in The Choral Journal. 35, no. 8 (1995): 9–19.
- A good recording of the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1yxjhfSH4A
- Leo Sowerby's papers and archives at Northwestern University: https://findingaids.library.northwestern.edu/repositories/3/resources/495
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the third Pulitzer Prize in Music, Aaron Copland for Appalachian Spring. Copland is among the most important and well-known American composers, and his style defined "America" in music for generations. Join us as we explore why Appalachian Spring has become a classic in American music and its reverberations down to today.
If you'd like more information about Appalachian Spring and Aaron Copland, we recommend:
- Howard Pollack's biography Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man.
- Jennifer Delapp-Birket's article "Appalachian Spring at 75: Then and Now"
- Copland House: http://www.coplandhouse.org
- Publisher (Boosey and Hawkes): https://www.boosey.com/cr/composer/Aaron+Copland?ttype=BIOGRAPHY
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the second Pulitzer Prize in Music, Howard Hanson and his Symphony No. 4 ("Requiem"). Hanson is known today for his impact on how we teach and train musicians in colleges and universities, but his music has fallen a bit out of favor. Join us as we see if his exclusion from concert halls is justified.
If you'd like to know more about Howard Hanson, we recommend:
- Harmonic Materials of Modern Music, Howard Hanson's book on music theory freely available online.
- Allen Cohen's Howard Hanson in Theory and Practice, from Praeger Publishers in 2004.
- Emily Abrams Ansari, The Sound of a Superpower: Musical Americanism and the Cold War, from Oxford University Press, 2018. This book combines Schuman and Hanson into one chapter and includes chapters on upcoming Pulitzer winners Aaron Copland and Virgil Thomson, exploring how all shaped American musical culture midcentury.
In this episode, Dave and Andrew explore the winner of the first Pulitzer Prize in Music, William Schuman and his Secular Cantata No. 2, "A Free Song." The work was William Schuman's contribution to the American war effort during World War II, but remains more of a curiosity than a mainstay in the choral/orchestral repertoire.
If you'd like to know more about William Schuman and how he won the prize, we recommend:
- Steve Swayne's biography Orpheus in Manhattan: William Schuman and the Shaping of America's Musical Life (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011)
- Steve Swayne's article on "A Free Song," "William Schuman, World War II, and the Pulitzer Prize," The Musical Quarterly, Volume 89, Issue 2-3 (Summer-Fall 2006): 273–320
Finally, several listeners have asked about our wonderful announcer for the podcast; Dale Morehouse is a marvelous singer, teacher, and stage director, and we're fortunate he agreed to help us out with the podcast.
Welcome to "Hearing the Pulitzers," a new podcast that examines and analyzes each winning Pulitzer Prize in Music composition and composer!
In the first episode, Andrew and Dave discuss the impetus behind starting the podcast, how each episode will be organized, and some opening thoughts on the history of the music prize and the whole concept and meaning of the Pulitzer Prize. Please subscribe to receive each new episode.
If you're interested in further reading or want to see what resources we used for this episode, we recommend:
- Julia K. Kuhlman's "Prizes, Winning, and Identity: Narrative Vocal Music of the Pulitzer Prize, 2008–2018"
- Heinz-Dietrich Fischer's edited book The Pulitzer Prize Winners for Music (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2010).
We also want to thank the Society for American Music for their support of this podcast through their Sight and Sound Subvention. The Society for American Music is dedicated to the study, teaching, creation, and dissemination of all musics in the Americas, so check out their many outstanding projects.
Want to contact us? Email us at hearingthepulitzers@gmail.com and follow us at twitter and Facebook @HPulitzers.