The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven

Pulitzer Prizes The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had ma ...

awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholars ...

to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted into a prize: "For a distinguished musical composition of significant dimension by an American that has had its first performance in the United States during the year." Because of the requirement that the composition have its world premiere during the year of its award, the winning work had rarely been recorded and sometimes had received only one performance. In 2004 the terms were modified to read, "For a distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year."

History

In his will, dated April 16, 1904, Joseph Pulitzer established annual prizes for a number of creative accomplishments by living Americans, including prizes for journalism, novels, plays, histories and biographies, but did not establish a prize in music, choosing instead to inaugurate an annual scholarship for "the student of music in America whom the Advisory Board shall deem the most talented and deserving, in order that he may continue his studies with the advantage of European instruction." The Pulitzer Prize for Music was instituted in 1943 to recognize works of "music in its larger forms as composed by an American." The phrase "music in its larger forms" proved difficult to interpret for the advisory board and the prize's juries, resulting in controversies over the years. One critic of the award said, "The Prize Board could hardly have chosen more offensive words to communicate its message." In 1965, the jury unanimously decided that no major work was worthy of the Pulitzer Prize. Instead, it recommended a special citation be given to

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

in recognition of his body of work, but the Pulitzer Board refused and therefore no award was given that year. Ellington responded: "Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young." (He was then 67 years old.) Despite this joke, Nat Hentoff reported that when he spoke to Ellington about the subject, he was "angrier than I'd ever seen him before", and Ellington said, "I'm hardly surprised that my kind of music is still without, let us say, official honor at home. Most Americans still take it for granted that European-based music—classical music, if you will—is the only really respectable kind." In 1996, after years of internal debate, the Pulitzer Board announced a change in the criteria for the music prize "so as to attract the best of a wider range of American music." The result was that the next year, Wynton Marsalis became the first jazz artist to win the Pulitzer Prize. But his victory was controversial because, according to the Pulitzer guidelines, his winning work, '' Blood on the Fields'', a three-hour-long oratorio about slavery, should not have been eligible. Winning works are supposed to have had their first performance during the year of the award, but Marsalis's piece premiered on April 1, 1994, and its recording, released on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

, was dated 1995. Yet the piece won the 1997 prize. Marsalis's management had submitted a "revised version" of ''Blood on the Fields'' that "premiered" at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

after Marsalis made seven small changes. When asked what would make a revised work eligible, the chairman of that year's

music jury A music jury is a final performance by a music student for a panel of jurors, usually consisting of faculty of the institution. Students attend private lessons throughout the year, and they perform at the end of a semester or the year to illustrate ...

Robert Ward Robert Ward may refer to: Politicians *Robert Ward (MP for City of York) * Robert Ward (1754–1831), Irish MP for Wicklow Borough, Killyleagh and Bangor * Robert Ward (American politician) (1952–2021), American lawyer and politician * Robert Wa ...

, said: "Not a cut here and there...or a slight revision", but rather something that changed "the whole conception of the piece." After being read the list of revisions made to the piece, Ward acknowledged that the minor changes should not have made it eligible, but said, "the list you had here was not available to us, and we did not discuss it." Nine women have received the Pulitzer Prize: Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in 1983; Shulamit Ran in 1991; Melinda Wagner in 1999;

Jennifer Higdon Jennifer Elaine Higdon (born December 31, 1962) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and three Grammy Award for Best Contemp ...

in 2010; Caroline Shaw in 2013; Julia Wolfe in 2015; Du Yun in 2017;

Ellen Reid Ellen Lorraine Reid (born 14 July 1966) is a Canadian musician. She provides backing vocals, piano, keyboards and accordion for the Canadian rock band Crash Test Dummies. Early life and education Reid was born and grew up in Selkirk, Manitob ...

in 2019; and Tania León in 2021. In addition to being the first woman to receive the award, Zwilich was also the first woman to receive a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition at the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

. Du is the first woman of color to receive the award. George Walker was the first African American composer to win the Prize, for his work ''Lilacs'' in 1996. In 1992 the music jury, which that year consisted of

George Perle George Perle (6 May 1915 – 23 January 2009) was an American composer and music theorist. As a composer, his music was largely atonal, using methods similar to the twelve-tone technique of the Second Viennese School. This serialist style, and ...

, Roger Reynolds, and

Harvey Sollberger Harvey Sollberger (born May 11, 1938 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa) is an American composer, flutist, and conductor specializing in contemporary classical music. Life Sollberger holds an M.A. degree from Columbia University, where his composition instr ...

, chose Ralph Shapey's '' Concerto Fantastique'' for the award. The Pulitzer Board rejected that decision and gave the prize to the jury's second choice, Wayne Peterson's '' The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark''. The jury responded with a public statement that they had not been consulted in that decision and that the Board was not professionally qualified to make such a decision. The Board responded that the "Pulitzers are enhanced by having, in addition to the professional's point of view, the layman's or consumer's point of view" and did not rescind its decision. In 2004, responding to criticism, Sig Gissler, the administrator of the Pulitzer Prizes at the Columbia University School of Journalism, announced that the board wanted to "broaden the prize a bit so that we can be more assured that we are getting the full range of the best of America's music". Board member Jay T. Harris said, "The prize should not be reserved essentially for music that comes out of the European classical tradition." The announced rule changes included altering the jury pool to include performers and presenters in addition to composers and critics. Entrants are no longer required to submit a score. Recordings are also accepted, although scores are still "strongly urged." Gissler said, "The main thing is we're trying to keep this a serious prize. We're not trying to dumb it down any way shape or form, but we're trying to augment it, improve it...I think the critical term here is 'distinguished American musical compositions.'" Reaction among Pulitzer Prize in Music winners has varied. The Pulitzer Prize Advisory Board officially announced: "After more than a year of studying the Prize, now in its 61st year, the Pulitzer Prize Board declares its strong desire to consider and honor the full range of distinguished American musical compositions—from the contemporary classical symphony to jazz, opera, choral, musical theater, movie scores and other forms of musical excellence...Through the years, the Prize has been awarded chiefly to composers of classical music and, quite properly, that has been of large importance to the arts community. However, despite some past efforts to broaden the competition, only once has the Prize gone to a jazz composition, a musical drama or a movie score. In the late 1990s, the Board took tacit note of the criticism leveled at its predecessors for failure to cite two of the country's foremost jazz composers. It bestowed a Special Citation on

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

marking the 1998 centennial celebration of his birth and

on his 1999 centennial year. Earlier, in 1976, a Special Award was made to

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

in the American Bicentennial year. While Special Awards and Citations continue to be an important option, the Pulitzer Board believes that the Music Prize, in its own annual competition, should encompass the nation's array of distinguished music and hopes that the refinements in the Prize's definition, guidelines and jury membership will serve that end.” In 2006, a posthumous "Special Citation" was given to jazz composer

Thelonious Monk Thelonious Sphere Monk (, October 10, 1917 – February 17, 1982) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including " 'Round Midnight", ...

, and in 2007 the prize went to

Ornette Coleman Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Coll ...

, a free jazz composer, for his disc ''

Sound Grammar ''Sound Grammar'' is a live album by jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, recorded live in Ludwigshafen, Germany, on 14 October 2005. The album was produced by Coleman and Michaela Deiss, and released on Coleman's new Sound Grammar lab ...

'', a recording of a 2005 concert, the first time a recording won the music Pulitzer, and a first for purely improvised music. In 2018, rapper Kendrick Lamar won the award for his 2017 hip hop album ''

Damn Damnation (from Latin '' damnatio'') is the concept of divine punishment and torment in an afterlife for actions that were committed, or in some cases, not committed on Earth. In Ancient Egyptian religious tradition, citizens would recite t ...

''. The recording was the first musical work not in the jazz or classical genre to win the prize.

Criticism

In 2004,

Donald Martino Donald James Martino (May 16, 1931 – December 8, 2005) was a Pulitzer Prize winning American composer. Biography Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, Martino attended Plainfield High School. He began as a clarinetist, playing jazz for fun an ...

, the 1974 winner, said, "If you write music long enough, sooner or later, someone is going to take pity on you and give you the damn thing. It is not always the award for the best piece of the year; it has gone to whoever hasn't gotten it before."

John Corigliano John Paul Corigliano Jr. (born February 16, 1938) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. His scores, now numbering over one hundred, have won him the Pulitzer Prize, five Grammy Awards, Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, an ...

, the 2001 winner, said that although the prize was intended for music that meant something to the world, it had become a very different kind of award, "by composers for composers" and "mired in a pool of rotating jurors." Composer and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mu ...

Kyle Gann complained in his essay "The Uptown Prejudice Against Downtown Music" that the judges for the Pulitzer and other top awards for composition often included "the same seven names over and over as judges": Gunther Schuller, Joseph Schwantner, Jacob Druckman,

, John Harbison, Mario Davidovsky, and Bernard Rands. Gann argued that "Downtown" composers like himself did not win awards because the composer-judges were all "white men, all of them coming pretty much from the same narrow Eurocentric

aesthetic Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...

.... These seven men have determined who wins the big prizes in American music for the last two decades. They have made sure that Downtown composers never win." In his list of writings, Gann includes this essay under the heading "On Gann's music". After winning the Pulitzer in 2003,

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

expressed "ambivalence bordering on contempt" because "most of the country's greatest musical minds" have been ignored in favor of academic music. Schuller welcomed the broadening of the eligibility criteria for the prize in 2004: "This is a long overdue sea change in the whole attitude as to what can be considered for the prize. It is an opening up to different styles and not at all to different levels of quality." Composer Olly Wilson agreed that the changes were "a move in the right direction" because they acknowledge "a wider spectrum of music, including music that is not written down." Some other former prize winners disagreed. Harbison called it "a horrible development", adding, "If you were to impose a comparable standard on fiction you would be soliciting entries from the authors of airport novels." According to Martino, the prize had "already begun to go in the direction of permitting less serious stuff" before the 2004 changes.

Lewis Spratlan M. Lewis Spratlan Jr. (born September 5, 1940) is an American music academic and composer of contemporary classical music. Biography Lewis Spratlan, recipient of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize in music and the Charles Ives Opera Award (2016) from the Ame ...

, who won the prize in 2000, also objected, saying "The Pulitzer is one of the very few prizes that award artistic distinction in front-edge, risk-taking music. To dilute this objective by inviting the likes of musicals and movie scores, no matter how excellent, is to undermine the distinctiveness and capability for artistic advancement." In 2018, 1970 winner

Charles Wuorinen Charles Peter Wuorinen (; June 9, 1938 – March 11, 2020) was an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. He performed his works and other 20th-century music as pianist and conductor. He composed more than ...

denounced the jury for awarding the music award to Lamar, telling the ''New York Times'' the decision constituted "the final disappearance of any societal interest in high culture."

Winners

In its first 71 years, the Music Pulitzer was awarded 67 times; it was never split, and no prize was given in 1953, 1964, 1965, or 1981."Music"
The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved December 20, 2013.

1940s

* 1943: William Schuman, '' Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song'' * 1944: Howard Hanson, Symphony No. 4, ''Requiem'' * 1945: Aaron Copland, ''

Appalachian Spring ''Appalachian Spring'' is a musical composition by Aaron Copland that was premiered in 1944 and has achieved widespread and enduring popularity as an orchestral suite. The music, scored for a thirteen-member chamber orchestra, was created upon ...

'',

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form ...

* 1946: Leo Sowerby, '' The Canticle of the Sun'' * 1947:

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed ...

, Symphony No. 3 * 1948: Walter Piston, Symphony No. 3 * 1949: Virgil Thomson, ''

Louisiana Story ''Louisiana Story'' is a 1948 American black-and-white drama film directed by Robert J. Flaherty. Although it has historically been represented as a documentary film, the events and characters depicted are fictional and the film was commissioned ...

'', film score

1950s

* 1950:

Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept ...

, ''

The Consul ''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera. Performance history Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the ...

'',

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

* 1951: Douglas Stuart Moore, '' Giants in the Earth'', opera * 1952: Gail Kubik, '' Symphony Concertante'' * 1953: no prize awarded * 1954: Quincy Porter, ''Concerto Concertante'' for two

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

s and

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

* 1955:

, '' The Saint of Bleecker Street'', opera * 1956: Ernst Toch, Symphony No. 3 * 1957: Norman Dello Joio, ''Meditations on Ecclesiastes'' * 1958:

Samuel Barber Samuel Osmond Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981) was an American composer, pianist, conductor, baritone, and music educator, and one of the most celebrated composers of the 20th century. The music critic Donal Henahan said, "Probab ...

, '' Vanessa'', opera * 1959:

John La Montaine John Maynard La Montaine, also later LaMontaine, (March 17, 1920 – April 29, 2013) was an American pianist and composer, born in Oak Park, Illinois, who won the 1959 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his Piano Concerto No. 1 "In Time of War" (1958 ...

, Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 9.

1960s

* 1960: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2 * 1961: Walter Piston, Symphony No. 7 * 1962:

, '' The Crucible'', opera * 1963:

Piano Concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpie ...

* 1964: no prize awarded * 1965: no prize awarded (See

) * 1966: Leslie Bassett, '' Variations for Orchestra'' * 1967: Leon Kirchner, Quartet No. 3 for strings and electronic tape * 1968:

George Crumb George Henry Crumb Jr. (24 October 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an American composer of avant-garde contemporary classical music. Early in his life he rejected the widespread modernist usage of serialism, developing a highly personal musical ...

, ''

Echoes of Time and the River ''Echoes of Time and the River'' (''Echoes II'') is an orchestral suite by the American composer George Crumb. It was commissioned by the University of Chicago to commemorate the university's 75th anniversary. The piece was first performed by t ...

'' * 1969: Karel Husa, String Quartet No. 3

1970s

* 1970:

, '' Time's Encomium'' * 1971: Mario Davidovsky, '' Synchronisms No. 6'' for Piano and Electronic Sound (1970) * 1972: Jacob Druckman, ''

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for se ...

'' * 1973: Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 3 * 1974:

, ''Notturno'' * 1975:

Dominick Argento Dominick Argento (October 27, 1927 – February 20, 2019) was an American composer known for his lyric operatic and choral music. Among his best known pieces are the operas ''Postcard from Morocco'', '' Miss Havisham's Fire'', ''The Masque of An ...

, '' From the Diary of Virginia Woolf'' * 1976: Ned Rorem, ''

Air Music ''Air Music'' is a set of ten Variation (music), variations for orchestra by the American composer Ned Rorem. The work was completed in 1974 and was first performed by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on December 5, 1975. The piece won the 1976 ...

'' * 1977: Richard Wernick, ''Visions of Terror and Wonder'' * 1978: Michael Colgrass, ''Deja Vu'' for

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

and

* 1979: Joseph Schwantner, ''

Aftertones of Infinity ''Aftertones of Infinity'' is a symphonic poem written by the American composer Joseph Schwantner. The work was commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra and completed in 1978. It was first performed by the American Composers Orchestra co ...

1980s

Indented entries are finalists after each year's winner. * 1980: David Del Tredici, ''In Memory of a Summer Day'' ** Morton Subotnick, ''After the Butterfly'' ** Lukas Foss, ''Quintets for Orchestra'' * 1981: no prize awarded * 1982: Roger Sessions, '' Concerto for Orchestra'' * 1983: Ellen Zwilich, '' Three Movements for Orchestra'' (Symphony No. 1) **

Vivian Fine Vivian Fine (28 September 1913 – 20 March 2000) was an American composer. Life Vivian Fine was born in Chicago to David and Rose Fine. A piano prodigy, she became at age five the youngest student ever to be awarded a scholarship at the Chic ...

, ''Drama for Orchestra'' * 1984: Bernard Rands, ''

Canti del Sole ''Canti del Sole'' (''Songs of the Sun'') is a song cycle written by the British-American composer Bernard Rands. The music exists in two arrangements: one for tenor and orchestra and the other for tenor and chamber ensemble. The orchestral versio ...

'' **

Peter Lieberson Peter Goddard Lieberson (25 October 1946 – 23 April 2011) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. His song cycles include two finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Music: '' Rilke Songs'' and '' Neruda Songs''; the latter won t ...

, ''

'', * 1985: Stephen Albert, Symphony No. 1 ''RiverRun'' ** William Bolcom, ''Songs of Innocence and Experience, a Musical Illumination of the Poems of William Blake'' * 1986:

, '' Wind Quintet No. 4'', for

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitch ...

, horn, and

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuos ...

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

, '' Symphony No. 5'' * 1987: John Harbison, '' The Flight into Egypt'' ** Stephen Albert, ''Flower of the Mountain'' * 1988: William Bolcom, ''12 New Etudes for Piano'' ** Gunther Schuller, '' Concerto For String Quartet and Orchestra'' * 1989: Roger Reynolds, ''

Whispers Out of Time ''Whispers Out of Time'' (1984) is a composition by Roger Reynolds (b. 1934) for string orchestra. He was awarded the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Music for the piece, causing Kyle Gann to quip that it was the first time it was being given to an expe ...

'' **

Steven Stucky Steven Edward Stucky (November 7, 1949 − February 14, 2016) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer. Life and career Stucky was born in Hutchinson, Kansas. At age 9, he moved with his family to Abilene, Texas, where, as a teenager, he ...

, '' Concerto for Orchestra'' ** Bright Sheng, ''H'un (Lacerations): In Memoriam 1966–1976''

1990s

* 1990: Mel D. Powell, '' Duplicates: A Concerto'' ** Ralph Shapey, '' Concerto for Cello, Piano, and String Orchestra'' * 1991: Shulamit Ran, ''

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

'' ** Bright Sheng, ''Four Movements for Piano'' ** Charles Fussell, ''Wilde'' * 1992: Wayne Peterson, '' The Face of the Night, the Heart of the Dark'' ** Ralph Shapey, '' Concerto Fantastique'' * 1993: Christopher Rouse, '' Trombone Concerto'' ** Leon Kirchner, '' Music for Cello and Orchestra'' ** Joan Tower, '' Violin Concerto'' * 1994: Gunther Schuller, '' Of Reminiscences and Reflections'' **

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as D ...

, '' Still Movement with Hymn'' **

, '' Microsymphony'' * 1995: Morton Gould, '' Stringmusic'' ** Donald Erb, ''Evensong'' ** Andrew Imbrie, ''Adam'' * 1996: George Walker, ''

Lilacs The Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (in Portuguese), acronym LILACS, and previously called Latin American Index Medicus,Piegas MH, Nowinski A. Index Medicus Latino-Americano: exemplo de cooperação técnica entre pa ...

'', for

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

and orchestra **

, ''Variations for Violin and Piano'' ** Elliott Carter, '' Adagio tenebroso'' * 1997: Wynton Marsalis, '' Blood on the Fields'',

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

** John Musto, ''Dove Sta Amore'' ** Stanisław Skrowaczewski, ''Passacaglia Immaginaria'' * 1998:

, String Quartet No. 2, ''Musica Instrumentalis'' **

, ''

Century Rolls ''Century Rolls'' is a piano concerto by the American composer John Adams. Commissioned by Emanuel Ax, the work dates from 1997. Ax was the soloist in the concerto's premiere on September 25, 1997 in Cleveland, Ohio, with Christoph von Dohnányi ...

'' **

Yehudi Wyner Yehudi Wyner (born June 1, 1929, in Calgary, Alberta) is an American composer, pianist, conductor and music educator. Life and career Wyner, who grew up in New York City, was raised in a musical family. His father, Lazar Weiner, was an eminent ...

, ''Horntrio'' * 1999: Melinda Wagner, ''

Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion ''Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion'' is a 1998 musical composition by Melinda Wagner, who was awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Music for the work. A concerto for flute and orchestra, it was commissioned by the Westchester Philharmonic, ...

'' ** David Rakowski, ''Persistent Memory'' ** Stanisław Skrowaczewski, '' Concerto for Orchestra''

2000s

* 2000:

, '' Life Is a Dream'',

(awarded for concert version of Act II) **

: ''Serenata Concertante'' **

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of j ...

: ''contes de fees'' * 2001:

, ''Symphony No. 2'', for string orchestra **

Stephen Hartke Stephen Paul Hartke (born July 6, 1952) is an American composer. Hartke is best known as the composer of ''Meanwhile – Incidental Music to Imaginary Puppet Plays,'' winner of the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition in 201 ...

, ''Tituli'' **

Fred Lerdahl Alfred Whitford (Fred) Lerdahl (born March 10, 1943, in Madison, Wisconsin) is the Fritz Reiner Professor Emeritus of Musical Composition at Columbia University, and a composer and music theorist best known for his work on musical grammar an ...

, ''Time After Time'' * 2002: Henry Brant, '' Ice Field'' **

, ''

Rilke Songs ''Rilke Songs'' is a composition for mezzo-soprano and piano by the American composer Peter Lieberson. The work is set to poetry by the Bohemian-Austrian writer Rainer Maria Rilke. It was composed for Lieberson's wife Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, ...

'' ** David Rakowski, ''Ten of a Kind'' * 2003:

, '' On the Transmigration of Souls'' **

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer known for his contribution to the development of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, ...

: '' Three Tales'' ** Paul Schoenfield: ''Camp Songs'' * 2004: Paul Moravec, '' Tempest Fantasy'' **

: ''

Cello Counterpoint ''Cello Counterpoint'' is a composition for cello and pre-recorded tape by the American composer Steve Reich. The work was jointly commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation in the Library of Congress, the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and L ...

'' **

: '' Piano Concerto No. 3'' * 2005:

, '' Second Concerto for Orchestra'' **

: ''You Are (Variations)'' ** Elliott Carter: '' Dialogues'' * 2006:

, ''

Chiavi in Mano ''Chiavi in Mano'' is a piano concerto in one movement by the composer Yehudi Wyner. The work was commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was first performed in February 2005 by the pianist Robert D. Levin and the Boston Symphony Orche ...

'' (

piano concerto A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpie ...

) **

: '' Neruda Songs'' ** Chen Yi: ''Si Ji (Four Seasons)'' * 2007:

, ''

'' ** Elliot Goldenthal: ''Grendel'' **

Augusta Read Thomas Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and professor. Biography Thomas studied composition with Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood; Jacob Druckman at Yale University; Alan Stout and Bill Karlins at Northwestern University ...

: '' Astral Canticle'' * 2008: David Lang, '' The Little Match Girl Passion'' **

: ''Meanwhile'' ** Roberto Sierra: ''Concerto for Viola'' * 2009:

, '' Double Sextet'' ** Don Byron: ''7 Etudes for Solo Piano'' ** Harold Meltzer: ''Brion''

2010s

* 2010:

, '' Violin Concerto'' **

: ''String Quartet No. 3'' ** Julia Wolfe: '' Steel Hammer'' * 2011: Zhou Long, ''

Madame White Snake The Legend of the White Snake is a Chinese legend. It has since been presented in a number of major Chinese operas, films, and television series. The earliest attempt to fictionalize the story in printed form appears to be ''The White Maiden ...

'', opera **

: '' Arches'' **

Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon (born 1962, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, México) is a Mexican-American composer and chair of the composition department at Eastman School of Music. He received the Helen L. Weiss Music Prize in 1991. His ''Comala (Zoh ...

: ''Comala'' * 2012: Kevin Puts, '' Silent Night: Opera in Two Acts'' ** Tod Machover: ''Death and the Powers'' ** Andrew Norman: '' The Companion Guide to Rome'' * 2013: Caroline Shaw, '' Partita for 8 Voices'' **

: '' Pieces of Winter Sky'' ** Wadada Leo Smith: '' Ten Freedom Summers'' * 2014:

John Luther Adams John Luther Adams (born January 23, 1953) is an American composer whose music is inspired by nature, especially the landscapes of Alaska, where he lived from 1978 to 2014. His orchestral work '' Become Ocean'' was awarded the 2014 Pulitzer Prize ...

, '' Become Ocean'' **

: '' The Gospel According to the Other Mary'' **

Christopher Cerrone Christopher Cerrone (born March 5, 1984) is an American composer based in New York City. He was a 2014 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, a 2014 Fromm Foundation commission recipient, a 2015 Rome Prize winner in Music Composition, and has received nu ...

: ''Invisible Cities'' * 2015: Julia Wolfe, '' Anthracite Fields'' **

Lei Liang Lei Liang (born November 28, 1972, in Tianjin, China) is a Chinese-born American composer who was a winner of the Grawemeyer Award and a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music. He is Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Music at the Univer ...

: ''Xiaoxiang'' **

: ''The Aristos'' * 2016: Henry Threadgill, ''

In for a Penny, In for a Pound ''In for a Penny, In for a Pound'' is an album composed by Henry Threadgill for his jazz quintet Zooid, featuring Jose Davila, Liberty Ellman, Christopher Hoffman, and Elliot Humberto Kavee. It was released by Pi Recordings and was awarded the 2 ...

'' ** Timo Andres: ''The Blind Banister'' **

Carter Pann Carter Pann (born February 21, 1972 in La Grange, Illinois) is an American composer. He studied composition and piano at the Eastman School of Music and the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Hi ...

: ''The Mechanics: Six from the Shop Floor'' * 2017: Du Yun, ''

Angel's Bone ''Angel's Bone'' is an opera by composer Du Yun and librettist Royce Vavrek in one act that follows the plight of two angels discovered on earth who are forced into spiritual and sexual slavery at the hands of a financially troubled couple. The wo ...

'', opera ** Ashley Fure: ''Bound to the Bow'' **

Kate Soper Kate Soper (born 1943) is a British philosopher. She is currently Visiting Professor at the University of Brighton.http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/staff/kate-soper Background Soper was educated at the University of Oxford (BA) and worked as a trans ...

: ''Ipsa Dixit'' * 2018: Kendrick Lamar, ''

'', album ** Michael Gilbertson: ''Quartet'' ** Ted Hearne: ''Sound from the Bench'' * 2019:

, '' Prism'', opera ** James Romig, ''Still'' ** Andrew Norman, ''Sustain''

2020s

* 2020:

Anthony Davis Anthony Marshon Davis Jr. (born March 11, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward and center positions. Davis is an eight-time ...

, '' The Central Park Five'', opera ** Alex Weiser, ''and all the days were purple'' ** Michael Torke, ''Sky: Concerto for Violin'' * 2021: Tania León, '' Stride'' ** Maria Schneider, '' Data Lords'' ** Ted Hearne, ''Place'' * 2022:

Raven Chacon Raven Chacon (born 1977) is a Diné-American composer, musician and artist. Born in Fort Defiance, Arizona within the Navajo Nation, Chacon became the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music, for his '' Voiceless Mass'' in 2022. ...

, '' Voiceless Mass'' ** Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti, ''with eyes the color of time'' **

Andy Akiho Andy Akiho (born February 7, 1979, Columbia, South Carolina) is an American musician and composer of contemporary classical music. A virtuoso percussionist based in New York City, his primary performance instrument is steel pans. He took inter ...

, ''Seven Pillars''

Additional citations

* 1974: Roger Sessions (1896–1985) * 1976:

(1868–1917, posthumous) * 1982:

Milton Babbitt Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his serial and electronic music. Biography Babbitt was born in Philadelphia to Albert E ...

(1916–2011) * 1985: William Schuman (1910–1992) * 1998:

(1898–1937, posthumous) * 1999:

(1899–1974, posthumous) * 2006:

(1917–1982, posthumous) * 2007: John Coltrane (1926–1967, posthumous) * 2008:

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

(born 1941) * 2010:

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

(1923–1953, posthumous) * 2019:

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in '' Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". Wit ...

(1942–2018, posthumous)

Repeat winners

Four people have won the Pulitzer Prize for Music twice: * Walter Piston, 1948, 1961 *

, 1950, 1955 *

, 1958, 1963 * Elliott Carter, 1960, 1973

References

External links

*
The Pulitzer Prize for Music: A Sonic Gallery
{{Authority control

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

American music awards Awards established in 1943 1943 establishments in the United States

History

Criticism

Winners

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Additional citations

Repeat winners

References

Further reading

External links