Most of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical compositions of the past were undistinguished and are now deservedly forgotten, but here are some of the well-remembered winners that preceded Paul Moravec’s Tempest Fantasy:
1945: Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring
1947: Charles Ives, Symphony No. 3
1949: Virgil Thomson, Louisiana Story (film score)
1950: Gian Carlo Menotti, The Consul
1958: Samuel Barber, Vanessa
1963: Samuel Barber, Piano Concerto
That’s nice company.
Arabesque has recorded Tempest Fantasy for release on CD later this year, together with Mood Swings, another of Moravec’s strongest pieces of chamber music. I’ll let you know when it comes out.
UPDATE: I just got a call from Moravec, who’s spending his spring break in Sicily (he teaches at Adelphi University). He’s feeling pretty bubbly, needless to say.
“Do you realize that I’m going to be in the World Almanac next year?” he asked.
“And every other year from now on,” I replied.
It’s a very cool thing to win a Pulitzer….