Wyner Wins Pulitzer Prize; Monk Acknowledged with Special Citation
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Yehudi Wyner has been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for his piano concerto, Chiavi in mano, published by Associated Music Publishers, Inc. Commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra through the New Works Fund (established by the Massachusetts Cultural Council), the concerto was premiered by soloist Robert Levin and the BSO under the baton of frequent guest conductor Robert Spano on February 17, 2005.
The salutation is for “distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the year.” The award is accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize.
Born in 1929, Wyner has composed more than 60 works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo voice and solo instruments, as well as music for theater and liturgical services. His Horntrio was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998. The son of composer Lazar Weiner, Wyner was a student of Richard Donovan, Walter Piston, and Paul Hindemith. His liturgical piece, Friday Evening Service (for cantor and chorus), first brought him to the attention of Associated Music Publishers in 1963. Wyner has taught on the faculty of Yale and SUNY Purchase and was a visiting professor at Cornell. Currently he is the Professor Emeritus of Composition at Brandeis University and is a frequent visiting professor at Harvard University. [Ed. note: The information in the previous sentence has been revised from what was originally published herein thanks to an update from Galen H. Brown.] In 1999, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His music has been recorded on CRI, New World Records, Bridge Records, and Naxos American Classics, among other labels.
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Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Neruda Songs by Peter Lieberson (Associated Music Publishers, Inc.), premiered May 20, 2005, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Si Ji (Four Seasons) by Chen Yi (Theodore Presser Company), premiered October 13, 2005, by the Cleveland Orchestra.
The complete roster of 90th annual Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism, Letters, Drama and Music, awarded on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board, was announced this afternoon by Columbia University.
The nominating jurors in the music category were Ara Guzelimian, senior director and artistic advisor, Carnegie Hall (Chair); Muhal Richard Abrams, pianist and composer, New York City; William Bolcom, composer and Ross Lee Finney Distinguished Professor of Music in Composition, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; George Lewis, Case Professor of American Music, Columbia University; and Howard Reich, arts and jazz critic, Chicago Tribune.
A posthumous “Special Citation” was awarded to American composer Thelonious Monk for “a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz.”
Wyner on Chiavi in mano
The idea for a piano concerto for the Boston Symphony was instigated by Robert Levin, the great Mozart scholar and pianist. The idea was evidently embraced by BSO Artistic Administrator Tony Fogg and supported by Music Director James Levine.
Much of the concerto was composed during the summer of 2004 at the American Academy in Rome in a secluded studio hidden within the Academy walls. While much of the composing took place far from home, the concerto comes out as a particularly “American” piece, shot through with vernacular elements. As in many of my compositions, simple, familiar musical ideas are the starting point. A shape, a melodic fragment, a rhythm, a chord, a texture, or a sonority may ignite the appetite for exploration. How such simple insignificant things can be altered, elaborated, extended, and combined becomes the exciting challenge of composition. I also want the finished work to breathe in a natural way, to progress spontaneously, organically, moving toward a transformation of the musical substance in ways unimaginable to me when I began the journey. Transformation is the goal, with the intention of achieving an altered state of perception and exposure that I am otherwise unable to achieve.
“Chiavi in mano” – the title of the piano concerto – is the mantra used by automobile salesmen and realtors in Italy: Buy the house or the car and the keys are yours. But the more pertinent reason for the title is the fact that the piano writing is designed to fall “under the hand” and no matter how difficult it may be, it remains physically comfortable and devoid of stress. In other words: “Keys in hand.”
–Yehudi Wyner, December 13, 2004
The presentation of the awards will be made at a luncheon on May 22, 2006, at Columbia University.