Pulitzer Prizes in Music

Updated September 9, 2022 | Infoplease Staff

(For years not listed, no award was made.)

1943

Secular Cantata No. 2, A Free Song, William Schuman

1944

Symphony No. 4 (Op. 34), Howard Hanson

1945

Appalachian Spring, Aaron Copland

1946

The Canticle of the Sun, Leo Sowerby

1947

Symphony No. 3, Charles Ives

1948

Symphony No. 3, Walter Piston

1949

Louisiana Story music, Virgil Thomson

1950

The Consul, Gian Carlo Menotti

1951

Music for opera Giants in the Earth, Douglas Stuart Moore

1952

Symphony Concertante, Gail Kubik

1954

Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Quincy Porter

1955

The Saint of Bleecker Street, Gian Carlo Menotti

1956

Symphony No. 3, Ernst Toch

1957

Meditations on Ecclesiastes, Norman Dello Joio

1958

Vanessa, Samuel Barber

1959

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, John La Montaine

1960

Second String Quartet, Elliott Carter

1961

Symphony No. 7, Walter Piston

1962

The Crucible, Robert Ward

1963

Piano Concerto No. 1, Samuel Barber

1966

Variations for Orchestra, Leslie Bassett

1967

Quartet No. 3, Leon Kirchner

1968

Echoes of Time and the River, George Crumb

1969

String Quartet No. 3, Karel Husa

1970

Time's Encomium, Charles Wuorinen

1971

Synchronisms No. 6 for Piano and Electronic Sound, Mario Davidowsky

1972

Windows, Jacob Druckman

1973

String Quartet No. 3, Elliott Carter

1974

Notturno, Donald Martino

1975

From the Diary of Virginia Woolf, Dominick Argento

1976

Air Music, Ned Rorem

1977

Visions of Terror and Wonder, Richard Wernick

1978

Déjà Vu for Percussion Quartet and Orchestra, Michael Colgrass

1979

Aftertones of Infinity, Joseph Schwantner

1980

In Memory of a Summer Day, David Del Tredici

1982

Concerto for Orchestra, Roger Sessions

1983

Three Movements for Orchestra, Ellen T. Zwilich

1984

Canti del Sole, Bernard Rands

1985

Symphony RiverRun, Stephen Albert

1986

Wind Quintet IV, George Perle

1987

The Flight Into Egypt, John Harbison

1988

12 New Etudes for Piano, William Bolcom

1989

Whispers Out of Time, Roger Reynolds

1990

Duplicates: A Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra, Mel Powell

1991

Symphony, Shulamit Ran

1992

The Face of the Night, The Heart of the Dark, Wayne Peterson

1993

Trombone Concerto, Christopher Rouse

1994

Of Reminiscences and Reflections, Gunther Schuller

1995

Stringmusic, Morton Gould

1996

Lilacs, George Walker

1997

Blood on the Field, Wynton Marsalis

1998

String Quartet No. 2, Musica Instrumentalis, Aaron Jay Kernis

1999

Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion, Melinda Wagner

2000

Life Is a Dream, Opera in Three Acts: Act II, Concert Version, Lewis Spratlan

2001

Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra, John Corigliano

2002

Ice Field, Harry Brant

2003

On the Transmigration of Souls, John Adams

2004

Tempest Fantasy, Paul Moravec

2005

Second Concerto for Orchestra, Steven Stucky

2006

Piano Concerto: “Chiavi in Mano,” Yehudi Wyner