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:

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:

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:

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:

1. Ginger Sharnell Jones-Robinson's DMA document, "An Analysis of Selected Vocal Works by George Walker" from the University of South Carolina, 2023.

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:

1. J. Wesley Flinn's article, "Developing Variation in the Late Work of Morton Gould and Why It Matters" Gamut vol. 10. no. 1 (2021)

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:

1. Schuller's autobiography, A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty

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:

1. This interview with Joe Alessi mentioned in the episode.

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:

1. Joshua Kosman's Obituary of the composer in the New York Times.

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

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:

1. Malcolm Miller, "Between Two Cultures: A Conversation with Shulamit Ran" Tempo, 2004, 58(227):15-32.