Hearing The Pulitzers hearingthepulitzers

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 Galante's dissertation "John Harbison's The Flight into Egypt: An Analysis for Performance," University of North Texas, 2008.
Mike Seabrook's "John Harbison and His Music," Tempo 197 (July 1996): 7–11.
Tom Jacob's profile in the San Francisco Classical Voice.

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:
George Perle, Twelve-Tone Tonality, 2nd edition (University of California Press, 1996).
George Perle, The Operas of Alban Berg, Vol I and Vol II (University of California Press, 1989).
Elliott Antokoletz, "George Perle: Man, Composer, and Theorist," Theory and Practice 33 (2008): 55-63.
Steven Rosenhaus, "Harmonic Motion in George Perle's Wind Quintet No. 4" Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1995.

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:
Ron Petrides's dissertation "Pitch Organization in Stephen Albert's Symphony RiverRun: A Study in Modal Combinations and Tonal Centricity" PhD Diss, NYU, 2008.
Holly Watkins's article "The Pastoral After Environmentalism: Nature and Culture in Stephen Albert'sSymphony: RiverRun" Current Musicology, no. 84 (2007): 7-24.
Stephen Albert's Website (maintained by Alissa Grimaldi)

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:
Will Robin's article "Horizons ’83, Meet the Composer, andNew Romanticism’s New Marketplace" in Musical Quarterly, Vol. 102, nos. 2-3 (2019): 158–99.
Benjamin Rivera's thesis "An Introduction to the Musical Language of Bernard Rands, as Demonstrated in Canti d'Amor" from Roosevelt University in 2005.
Bruce Duffie's interview with Bernard Rands.

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!