Hearing The Pulitzers

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 GalanteJohn Harbison's The Flight into Egypt: An Analysis for PerformanceJohn Harbison and His Musicprofile

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: Twelve-Tone TonalityVol IVol II George Perle: Man, Composer, and Theorist

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: The Pastoral After Environmentalism: Nature and Culture in Stephen Albert'sSymphony: RiverRunStephen Albert's Website

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: Horizons ’83, Meet the Composer, andNew Romanticism’s New MarketplaceBruce Duffie's interview

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: Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Symphony No. 1: Developing Variation in the 1980sInterview with Ellen Taaffe Zwilichwebsite

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 EssaysRoger Sessions: A Biography The Correspondence of Roger SessionsThe 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: issue on New TonalityJ. D. Dolan's articleJames E. Chute's dissertationinterview

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: dissertationwebsiteCynthia 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: autobiographiesThe early drum-melodic music of Michael Colgrass and the evolution of the Colgrass drum

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 interviewUnity in diversity: the synthesis of compositional approaches in Richard Wernick's Vision of terror and wonderinterview with WernickPlease rate and review us on Apple Podcasts!

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: The Paris and the New York Diaries, 1951-19611999 interview with Ned Rorem

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 dissertationNew Yorker article 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: Dreaming of Single Hexachords in an Infinite Expanse: An Analysis of Movement II of Donald Martino’s NotturnoPerspectives of New Music 29/2 (Summer 1991interview 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 performancePitch Structure in Elliott Carter's String Quartet No. 3Compositional Process in Elliott Carter's String Quartets: A Study in Sketches

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: Jacob Druckman: A Bio-Bibliography and Guide to ResearchSoundpieces: Interviews with American ComposersBruce 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: Mario Davidovsky, An IntroductionEdition Peters

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: extensive websiteCharles Wuorinen: A Celebration at 80,