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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

26:00

Episode 64 - 2006: Yehudi Wyner, Piano Concerto:...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/12/19

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

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17:44

Bonus: Giants in the Earth Revisited

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/11/20

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

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32:19

Episode 63 - 2005: Steven Stucky, Concerto for...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/11/04

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,

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29:42

Episode 62 - 2004: Paul Moravec, Tempest Fantasy

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/08/15

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

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36:04

Episode 61 - 2003: John Adams, On the Transmigration...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/07/12

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

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31:39

Episode 60 - 2002: Henry Brant, Ice Field

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/06/18

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

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31:44

Episode 59 - 2001: John Corigliano, Symphony No. 2...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/05/28

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

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32:23

Episode 58 - 2000: Lewis Spratlan, Life is a Dream,...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/04/30

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

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25:22

Episode 57 - 1999: Melinda Wagner, Concerto for...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/03/11

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

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28:18

Episode 56 - 1998: Aaron Jay Kernis, String Quartet...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2025/02/03

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

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29:35

Episode 55 - 1997: Wynton Marsalis, Blood on the Fields

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/12/13

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

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27:35

Episode 54 - 1996: George Walker, Lilacs for Voice...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/10/19

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

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28:47

Episode 53 - 1995: Morton Gould, Stringmusic

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/10/01

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

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28:33

Episode 52 - 1994: Gunther Schuller, Of Reminiscences...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/09/11

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.

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29:49

Episode 51 - 1993: Christopher Rouse, Trombone Concerto

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/06/10

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

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32:35

Episode 50 - 1992: Wayne Peterson, The Face of the...

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/05/24

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

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39:37

Bonus: An Interview with Howard Pollack

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/04/19

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

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26:26

Episode 49 - 1991: Shulamit Ran, Symphony

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/03/29

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

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29:52

Episode 48 - 1990: Mel Powell, Duplicates

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/01/30

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,

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30:38

Episode 47 - 1989: Roger Reynolds, Whispers Out of Time

Hearing The Pulitzers ·

2024/01/12

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

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