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PODCAST

Hearing The Pulitzers

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.

music music history

All Episodes

20:40

Episode 9 - 1951: Douglas Moore, Giants in the Earth

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/08/15

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,

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34:32

Episode 8 - 1950: Gian Carlo Menotti, The Consul

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/06/14

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

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36:53

Episode 7 - 1949: Virgil Thomson, Louisiana Story

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/05/24

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

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28:21

Episode 6 - 1948: Walter Piston, Symphony No. 3

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/05/04

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,

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39:55

Episode 5 - 1947: Charles E. Ives, Symphony No. 3,...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/04/19

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

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25:23

Episode 4 - 1946: Leo Sowerby, Canticle of the Sun

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/04/06

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

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33:45

Episode 3 - 1945: Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/03/08

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

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32:36

Episode 2: 1944 - Howard Hanson, Symphony No. 4...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/02/23

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

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35:28

Episode 1 - 1943: William Schuman, Secular Cantata,...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/02/09

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

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24:17

Welcome to "Hearing the Pulitzers!"

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2020/01/27

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

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