Dr. Heuser's Lists of Useful Information for Composition Students

Dr. Heuser's Lists of Useful Information for Composition Students
List of 20th-Century Composers
Reading List
List of Pulitzer Prize Winners in Music
List of Grammy Winners (Composer Award)
List of Grawemeyer Award Winners

Composer Listening Lists

I devised this list for students to consult when they want to expand their knowledge of 20th-Century music. All students should eventually come to know some of the music by the composers on the first part of the list. The second part is more haphazard. I make no claims that the list is complete or even fair.
Basic Listening List of 20th Century Composers
Bela Bartok
Alban Berg
Luciano Berio
Pierre Boulez
Benjamin Britten
John Cage
Aaron Copland
Claude Debussy
Alberto Ginastera
Paul Hindemith
Charles Ives
Gyorgy Ligeti
Wiltold Lutoslawski
Gustav Mahler
Olivier Messiaen
Darius Milhaud
Krzysztof Penderecki
Fancis Poulenc
Sergei Prokofiev
Maurice Ravel
Eric Satie
Arnold Schoenberg
Dmitry Shostakovich
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Igor Stravinsky
Edgard Varese
Ralph Vaughn Williams
Anton Webern
Iannis Xenakis

Other Composers (many living)
John Adams
Thomas Ades
Samuel Adler
Stephen Albert
William Albright
Hendrik Andriessen
George Antheil
Dominick Argento
Larry Austin
Milton Babbitt
Simon Bainbridge
Samuel Barber
Leonard Bernstein
Harrison Birtwistle
Ernest Bloch
William Bolcolm
Paul Bowles
Leo Brouwer
Earl Brown
Elliott Carter
Carlos Chavez
John Corigliano
Henry Cowell
Ruth Crawford (Seeger)
George Crumb
Luigi Dallapiccola
Mario Davidovsky
Peter Maxwell Davies
Edison Denisov
Tan Dun
Jacob Druckman
Donald Erb
Morton Feldman
Brian Ferneyhough
Irving Fine
Lukus Foss
Frederick Fox
Philip Glass
Sofia Gubaidulina
John Harbison
Lou Harrison
Gustav Holst
Arthur Honegger
Karel Husa
Andrew Imbrie
Aaron Jay Kernis
Ernest Krenek
György Kurtág
Helmut Lachenmann
Libby Larsen
Magnus Lindberg
Tania León
Bruno Maderna
Donald Martino
Salvatore Martirano
Conlon Nancarrow
Luigi Nono
Per Norgard
Michael Nyman
Carl Orff
Harry Partch
Steve Reich
Silvestre Revueltas
Roger Reynolds
George Rochberg
Ned Rorem
Chris Rouse
Poul Ruders
Carl Ruggels
Giacinto Scelsi
Alfred Schnittke
Gunther Schuller
Joseph Schwantner
Alexander Scriabin
Roger Sessions
Bright Sheng
Morton Subotnik
Toru Takemitsu
John Tavener
Joan Tower
Augusta Read Thomas
Virgil Thomson
Heitor Villa-Lobos
George Walker
Kurt Weil
Stefan Wolpe
Charles Wuorinen
Chen Yi
Frank Zappa
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

Reading List

On picking a graduate school in composition: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~phillipm/GradSchoolSearch.html

Orchestration Books

Adler, Samuel The Study of Orchestration
Blatter, Alfred Instrumentation/Orchestration
Kennan, Kent/ Grantham, Donald The Technique of Orchestration
Rinsky-Korsakov Principles of Orchestration

Strings

Turetzky, Bertram The Contemporary Contrabass

Percussion

Peinkofer, Karl & Tannigel, Fritz Handbook of Percussion Instruments
(trans. Kurt and Else Stone)
Smith-Brindle, Reginald Contemporary Percussion

Woodwinds

Dick, Robert The Other Flute
Bartolozzi, Bruno New Sounds for Woodwinds
Rehfeldt, Philip, New Directions for Clarinet

Harp
Salzedo, Carlos Modern Study for the Harp

Notation Books
Read, Gardner Music Notation
Stone, Kurt Music Notation in the Twentieth Century

20th-Century Music History

Alex Ross The Rest is Noise
Schwartz, Elliot & Godfrey, Daniel Music Since 1945
Watkins, Glenn Soundings (Music in the 20th Century)

Film Music
Predergast, Roy M. Film Music - A Neglected Art
/ Karlin, Fred / Wright, Rayburn On the Track
Wierzbicki, James Film Music, A History

List of Pulitzer Prize Winners in Music

1943
William Schuman (b. 1910). Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song for full chorus of mixed voices,
with accompaniment of orchestra.
1944
Howard Hanson (1896-1981). Symphony no. 4, op. 34.
1945
Aaron Copland (1900-1990). Appalachian Spring.
1946
Leo Sowerby (1895-1968). The Canticle of the Sun.
1947
Charles Ives (1874-1954). Symphony no. 3.
1948
Walter Piston (1894-1976). Symphony no. 3
1949
Virgil Thomson (1896-1989). Louisiana Story. (Score for a documentary film.)
1950
Gian-Carlo Menotti (b. 1911). The Consul. (Opera.)
1951
Douglas Moore (1893-1969). Giants in the Earth. (Opera.)
1952
Gail Kubik (1914-1984). Symphony Concertante.
1953
Not awarded.
1954
Quincy Porter (1897-1966). Concerto Concertante for Two Pianos and Orchestra.
1955
Gian-Carlo Menotti (b. 1911). The Saint of Bleecker Street. (Opera in three acts.)
1956
Ernst Toch (1887-1964). Symphony no. 3.
1957
Norman Dello Joio (b. 1913). Meditations on Ecclesiastes.
1958
Samuel Barber (1910-1981). Vanessa. (Opera.)
1959
John La Montaine (b. 1920). Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, op. 9.
1960
Elliott Carter (b. 1908). Second String Quartet.
1961
Walter Piston (1894-1976). Symphony no. 7.
1962
Robert Ward (b. 1917). The Crucible. (Opera.)
1963
Samuel Barber (1910-1981). Piano Concerto no. 1, op. 38.
1964
Not awarded.
1965
Not awarded.
1966
Leslie Bassett (b. 1923). Variations for Orchestra.
1967
Leon Kirchner (b. 1919). Quartet no. 3 for strings and electronic tape.
1968
George Crumb (b. 1929). Echoes of Time and the River.
1969
Karel Husa (b. 1921). String Quartet no. 3.
1970
Charles Wuorinen (b. 1938). Time's Encomium.
1971
Mario Davidovsky (b. 1934). Synchronisms no. 6.
1972
Jacob Druckman (b. 1928). Windows.
1973
Elliott Carter (b. 1908). String quartet no. 3.
1974
Donald Martino (b. 1931). Notturno.
1975
Dominick Argento (b. 1927). From the Diary of Virginia Woolf.
1976
Ned Rorem (b. 1923). Air Music.
1977
Richard Wernick (b. 1934). Visions of Terror and Wonder.
1978
Michael Colgrass (b. 1932). Deja Vu for Percussion and Orchestra.
1979
Joseph Schwantner (b. 1943). Aftertones of Infinity.
1980
David Del Tredici (b. 1937). In Memory of a Summer Day.
1981
Not awarded.
1982
Roger Sessions (1896-1985). Concerto for Orchestra.
1983
Ellen Zwilich (b. 1939). Three Movements for Orchestra. (Symphony no. 1.)
1984
Bernard Rands (b. 1934). Canti del Sole.
1985
Stephen Albert (1941-1992). Symphony RiverRun.
1986
George Perle (b. 1915). Wind Quintet no. 4, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon.
1987
John Harbison (b. 1938). The Flight into Egypt.
1988
William Bolcom (b. 1938). 12 New Etudes for Piano.
1989
Roger Reynolds (b. 1934). Whispers Out of Time.
1990
Mel D. Powell (b. 1923). Duplicates: A Concerto.
1991
Shulamit Ran (b. 1947). Symphony.
1992
Wayne Peterson (b. 1927). The Face of the Night.
1993
Christopher Rouse (b. 1949). Trombone Concerto.
1994
Gunther Schuller (b. 1925). Of Reminiscences and Reflections.
1995
Morton Gould (1931-1996). Stringmusic.
1996
George Walker (b. 1922). Lilacs for soprano and orchestra.
1997
Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961). Blood on the Fields. Oratorio.
1998
Aaron Jay Kernis (b. 1960), String Quartet No. 2, Musica Instrumentalis
1999
Melinda Wagner, Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion
2000
Lewis Spratlan, Life Is a Dream, Opera in Three Acts: Act II, Concert Version
2001
John Corigliano, Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra
2002
Henry Brant, Ice Field (orchestra)
2003
John Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls (orchestra, chorus, tape)

2004
Paul Moravec, Tempest Fantasy (clarinet, violin, cello, piano)

2005
Steven Stucky , Second Concerto for Orchestra

2006
Yehudi Wyner, Piano Concerto: "Chiavi in Mano"
Finalists: "Neruda Songs" by Peter Lieberson; "Si Ji" ("Four Seasons") by Chen Yi.

2007
Ornette Coleman, Sound Grammar(CD)
Finalists: "Grendel" (opera) by Elliot Goldenthal; "Astral Canticle" (for orchestra) by Augusta Read Thomas

2008
David Lang, The Little Match Girl Passion
Finalists: "Meanwhile" by Stephen Hartke; "Concerto for Viola" by Roberto Sierra
2009
Steve Reich, Double Sextet
Finalists: “7 Etudes for Solo Piano,” by Don Byron; “Brion,” by Harold Meltzer

List of Best Contemporary Composition Grammy Winners
The name of the award has changed over the years, and disappeared between 1965 and 1985. And being a recording award, the compositions are sometimes quite old by the time they win (check out 1965's winner).

BEST MUSICAL COMPOSITION FIRST RECORDED
AND RELEASED IN 1958 (OVER 5 MINUTES)
CROSS COUNTRY SUITE
Composer, Nelson Riddle

1959
ANATOMY OF A MURDER
Composer: Duke Ellington

1960
BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION
ORCHESTRAL SUITE FROM TENDER LAND SUITE
Aaron Copland, Composer

1961 (tie)
DISCANTUS
Comp: Laurindo Almeida

MOVEMENTS FOR PIANO AND ORCHESTRA
Comp: Igor Stravinsky

1962
BEST CLASSICAL COMPOSITION BY CONTEMPORARY COMPOSER
THE FLOOD
Comp: Igor Stravinsky

1963
WAR REQUIEM
Comp: Benjamin Britten

1964
PIANO CONCERTO
Comp: Samuel Barber

1965
SYMPHONY NO.4
Comp: Charles lves

1985
BEST NEW CLASSICAL COMPOSITION
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA
Samuel Barber, Composer

BEST CONTEMPORARY COMPOSITION
1986
LLOYD WEBBER: REQUIEM
Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber

1987
LUTOSLAWSKI: SYMPHONY NO.3
Composer: Witold Lutoslawski

1988
PENDERECKI: CELLO CON. NO.2
Composer. Krzysztof Penderecki

1989
ADAMS: NIXON IN CHINA
John Adams, Composer

1990
REICH: DIFFERENT TRAINS
Composer: Steve Reich

1991
BERNSTEIN: ARIAS & BARCAROLLES
Composer: Leonard Bernstein

1992
CORIGLIANO: SYM. NO. 1
John Corigliano, Composer

1993
BARBER: THE LOVERS
Samuel Barber, Composer

1994
CARTER: VIOLIN CONCERTO
Elliott Carter, Composer

1995
Albert: Cello Concerto
Stephen Albert, Composer

1996
Messiaen: Concert à Quatre
Olivier Messiaen, Composer

1997
String Quartet
John Corigliano, Composer

1998
John Adams: El Dorado

1999
Best Classical Contemporary Composition
A Composer's Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last
25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.)

Penderecki: Violin Concerto No. 2 "Metamorphosen"
Krzysztof Penderecki, composer

2000
Boulez: Repons
Pierre Boulez, composer

2001
Star Child
George Crumb, composer

2002
Concert De Gaudi For Guitar And Orchestra
Christopher Rouse, composer

2003
Casa Guidi (five songs for soprano with orchestra based on letters of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
Dominick Argento, composer

2004
On the Transmigration of Souls
John Adams, composer

2005
Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience
William Bolcom, composer
2006
Ainadamar: Fountain Of Tears
Osvaldo Golijov, composer
2007
Made In America
Joan Tower, composer
2008
Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan
John Corigliano, composer

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