Hearing The Pulitzers

Episode 12 - 1954: Quincy Porter, Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra

Quincy Porter bridges many of the themes we've seen so far in the podcast: he was the last student of nineteenth-century American composer Horatio Parker (who also taught 1947 prize  winner Charles Ives), he taught composition at an Ivy League school (Yale, in this case) for many years, and he was celebrated for his orchestral music during his lifetime, but is virtually forgotten today.

From that list, and from our previous episodes on Howard Hanson, Walter Piston, and Douglas Moore, you might think you have a good sense of what Porter's Ivy League New England musical style might be, but are you right? Join us to find out.

 

For more about Quincy Porter:

1) https://composers.com/composers/quincy-porter

2) https://necmusic.edu/archives/quincy-porter

EPISODE 11 - 1953: No Prize

It might surprise you to learn that over the past 80 years, there have been a few years when the Pulitzer Board has elected not to award a prize, even when the music committee had a recommendation. In this episode we explore the first of these "no prize" years, discuss what pieces were considered, and make a guess as to why the Pulitzer Board chose to not award a winner.

EPISODE 10 - 1952: Gail Kubik, Symphony Concertante

As we move further into the 1950s, we're entering the doldrums of the Pulitzer Prizes, where few winners have entered the repertoire. Gail Kubik was a phenomenon in his day, writing equally well for the concert hall and the movie theatre. His Symphony Concertante began life as a film score before he extracted themes to craft this work featuring viola, trumpet, and piano. So why have you never heard of the work or, most likely its creator?

If you'd like to learn more about Kubik, we recommend:

1. His delightful score for the Academy Award-winning cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing.
2. The extensive information from Kubik's archive at Kansas State University.
3. Alfred W. Cochran's article "The Functional Music of Gail Kubik: Catalyst for the Concert Hall" in Indiana Theory Review, Vol. 19 (Spring/Fall 1998), 1-11
    
    

    

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

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, we recommend:

1. Jerry L. McBride's Douglas Moore: A Bio-bibliography
2. The website dedicated to his more famous and much more performed opera The Ballad of Baby Doe

Episode 8 - 1950: Gian Carlo Menotti, The Consul

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 Pulitzer, but does it still resonate today?

If you'd like to learn more about Menotti, we recommend:

1. Donald Hixon's Bio-Bibliography on Menotti (Greenwood Press, 2000)
2. A wonderful interview with Menotti from 1997 conducted by Gene Brooks
3. The Youtube channel of the Gian Carlo Menotti Archive where you can discover historical recordings of Menotti's works and interviews from many connected to his life and work
4. A performance of the opera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekrx98zKnk0

 

Episode 7 - 1949: Virgil Thomson, Louisiana Story

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 Plains, and he followed it up with The River two years later for the same director. A decade later, the father of the narrative documentary film, Robert Flaherty, hired Thomson to score what would be his last film. As the only piece of movie music to ever win the Pulitzer, Louisiana Story is at least a curiosity in the prize's history, but does it stand up today?

If you'd like more information about Virgil Thomson we recommend:

1. Anthony Tommasini's magisterial biography Virgil Thomson: Composer on the Aisle (New York City: W.W. Norton & Company, 1999).
2. The Library of America's collection of Virgil Thomson's writings, edited by Tim Page
3. The Virgil Thomson Papers at Yale University: https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/6/resources/10673
4. Thomson's website page with more resources: http://www.virgilthomson.org/resources/further-research

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

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, premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1948, displays that craftsmanship but also the rich, sonorous sound he could pull from the orchestra. But how does it stand up today?

If you'd like more information about Walter Piston we recommend:

1. Carol Oja's essay "Reappraising Walter Piston"
2. Elliott Carter's summary of his teacher's music "Walter Piston" in The Musical Quarterly, vol. 32, no. 3 (July 1946): 354-375.
3. Howard Pollack's book Harvard Composers: Walter Piston and His Students, from Elliott Carter to Frederick Rzewski (Scarecrow Press, 1992).
4. The first recording of the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18IybqdI5dw

Episode 5 - 1947: Charles E. Ives, Symphony No. 3, "The Camp Meeting"

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 the newer ways," but it caught the attention of the Pulitzer board through its premiere performance in New York conducted by Lou Harrison in 1946. It was also the first piece to win the Pulitzer Prize that written much earlier than its premiere, and it helped propel Ives and his music into the public eye.

 

If you'd like more information about Ives or his Symphony No. 3, we recommend:

1) The Charles Ives Society: www.charlesives.org

2) Charles Ives, Memos, edited by John Kirkpatrick (W.W. Norton, 1971)

3) J. Peter Burkholder, All Made of Tunes (Yale University Press, 1995)

4) Mark Zobel, The Third Symphony of Charles Ives. Vol. 6 CMS Sourcebooks in American Music, edited by Michael Budds. (Pendragon Press, 2009).

5) A new recording by Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony: https://www.sfsymphony.org/Discover-the-Music/SFS-Media/charles-Ives-Nos3-4

 

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

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 recommend:

1. Brice Gerlach's dissertation "Leo Sowerby's The Canticle of the Sun: An Analysis for Performance."
2. Timothy Sharp's article "The Choral Music of Leo Sowerby: A Centennial Perspective," which you can find in The Choral Journal. 35, no. 8 (1995): 9–19.
3. A good recording of the piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1yxjhfSH4A
4. Leo Sowerby's papers and archives at Northwestern University: https://findingaids.library.northwestern.edu/repositories/3/resources/495

 

 

Episode 3 - 1945: Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring

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:

1. Howard Pollack's biography Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man.
2. Jennifer Delapp-Birket's article "Appalachian Spring at 75: Then and Now"
3. Copland House: http://www.coplandhouse.org
4. Publisher (Boosey and Hawkes): https://www.boosey.com/cr/composer/Aaron+Copland?ttype=BIOGRAPHY