Hearing The Pulitzers

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,...

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'...

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 inform...

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...

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 recom...

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 wit...

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 P...

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 Hallelu...

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...

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...

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 p...

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 Yuj...

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 i...

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:...

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 Ana...

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 G...

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...

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...

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...

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 li...

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 A...

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 ...

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...