Pulitzer Prize for Music

The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year. This was eventually converted into a full fledged prize.

The winners in this category have been:

• 1943 - William Schuman, Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song
• 1944 - Howard Hanson, Symphony No. 4
• 1945 - Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring, ballet
• 1946 - Leo Sowerby, The Canticle of the Sun
• 1947 - Charles Ives, Symphony No. 3
• 1948 - Walter Piston, Symphony No. 3
• 1949 - Virgil Thomson, Louisiana Story, film score
• 1950 - Gian-Carlo Menotti, The Consul, opera
• 1951 - Douglas Moore, Giants in the Earth, opera
• 1952 - Gail Kubik, Symphony Concertante
• 1953 - no prize awarded
• 1954 - Quincy Porter, Concerto Concertante for two pianos and orchestra
• 1955 - Gian-Carlo Menotti, The Saint of Bleecker Street, opera
• 1956 - Ernst Toch, Symphony No. 3
• 1957 - Norman Dello Joio, Meditations on Ecclesiastes
• 1958 - Samuel Barber, Vanessa, opera
• 1959 - John La Montaine, Piano Concerto
• 1960 - Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2
• 1961 - Walter Piston, Symphony No. 7
• 1962 - Robert Ward, The Crucible, opera
• 1963 - Samuel Barber, Piano Concerto No. 1
• 1964 - no prize awarded
• 1965 - no prize awarded (See Duke Ellington)
• 1966 - Leslie Bassett, Variations for Orchestra
• 1967 - Leon Kirchner, Quartet No. 3 for strings and electronic tape
• 1968 - George Crumb, Echoes of Time and the River
• 1969 - Karel Husa, String Quartet No. 3
• 1970 - Charles Wuorinen, Time's Encomium
• 1971 - Mario Davidovsky, Synchronisms No. 6
• 1972 - Jacob Druckman, Windows
• 1973 - Elliott Carter, String quartet No. 3
• 1974 - Donald Martino, Notturno
• 1975 - Dominick Argento, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf
• 1976 - Ned Rorem, Air Music
• 1977 - Richard Wernick, Visions of Terror and Wonder
• 1978 - Michael Colgrass, Deja Vu for percussion and orchestra
• 1979 - Joseph Schwantner, Aftertones of Infinity
• 1980 - David Del Tredici, In Memory of a Summer Day
• 1981 - no prize awarded
• 1982 - Roger Sessions, Concerto for Orchestra
• 1983 - Ellen Zwilich, Three Movements for Orchestra (Symphony No. 1)
• 1984 - Bernard Rands, Canti del Sole
• 1985 - Stephen Albert, Symphony RiverRun
• 1986 - George Perle, Wind Quintet No. 4, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon
• 1987 - John Harbison, The Flight into Egypt
• 1988 - William Bolcom, 12 New Etudes for Piano
• 1989 - Roger Reynolds, Whispers Out of Time
• 1990 - Mel D. Powell, Duplicates: A Concerto
• 1991 - Shulamit Ran, Symphony
• 1992 - Wayne Peterson, The Face of the Night
• 1993 - Christopher Rouse, Trombone Concerto
• 1994 - Gunther Schuller, Of Reminiscences and Reflections
• 1995 - Morton Gould, Stringmusic
• 1996 - George Walker, Lilacs, for soprano and orchestra
• 1997 - Wynton Marsalis, Blood on the Fields, oratorio
• 1998 - Aaron Jay Kernis, String Quartet No. 2, Musica Instrumentalis
• 1999 - Melinda Wagner, Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion
• 2000 - Lewis Spratlan, Life is a Dream, opera (awarded for concert version of Act II)
• 2001 - John Corigliano, Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra
• 2002 - Henry Brant, Ice Field
• 2003 - John Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls