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 performance of Giants in the Earth
Joshua Barone's coverage of the performance in the New York Times, "An Operatic ‘Diamond on the Side of the Road’ Catches Light Again."
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Episode 63 - 2005: Steven Stucky, Concerto for Orchestra, No. 2
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, Hartke, Crockett: Conversations in Los Angeles." Contemporary Music Review, 10, no. 1 (1994): 51–73.
Franklin Crawford, "Steal this concerto, please: An interview with Steven Stucky" Cornell Chronicle, April 21, 2005.
Steven Stucky, Lutosławski and his Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).
This Washington Post article about the changes to the music prize from June 2004.
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Episode 62 - 2004: Paul Moravec, Tempest Fantasy
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 (1992): 39–42.
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Episode 61 - 2003: John Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls
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 referenced in the show, "Disunity and the Commemoration of 9/11 in John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls" Journal of the Society for American Music, 7, no. 4 (November 2013): 382-420.
Kalle Puolakka's article "Public Art and Dewey’s Democratic Experience: The Case of John Adams’s On the Transmigration of Souls" The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 74, No. 4 (2016): 371-81.
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Episode 60 - 2002: Henry Brant, Ice Field
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 Music 15, no. 1 (1997): 70–92.
Frank Oteri's 2002 interview with Henry Brant in New Music Box
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.