The Pulitzer Project is an intriguing concept for an album, especially because it fills in gaps with two prize-winning works that are receiving their first recording. The release brings down to eight the number of works that have not been recorded from among the 65 prizes that have been awarded from its inception in 1943 to 2011. Only a handful, though (most prominently Copland's Appalachian Spring), have entered the standard repertoire, and the majority have received only a single recording, so the prize, in spite of its ...
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The Pulitzer Project is an intriguing concept for an album, especially because it fills in gaps with two prize-winning works that are receiving their first recording. The release brings down to eight the number of works that have not been recorded from among the 65 prizes that have been awarded from its inception in 1943 to 2011. Only a handful, though (most prominently Copland's Appalachian Spring), have entered the standard repertoire, and the majority have received only a single recording, so the prize, in spite of its prestige, has proven to be a poor predictor of a work's longevity and standing in history. These three works come from early in the music Pulitzer's history: William Schuman's A Free Song (the first piece to receive the award, in 1943), Appalachian Spring (1945), and Leo Sowerby's The Canticle of the Sun (1946). The Schuman and Sowerby are choral works, the first very brief at 13 minutes, and the second a more substantial 32 minutes. The two movements of the Schuman use texts from...
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