The Pulitzer Prize for Music

1943     A free song (secular cantata no. 2) for full chorus of mixed voices, with accompaniment of orchestra or two pianos by William Schuman
1944     Symphony No. 4, op. 34 (Requiem) by Howard Hanson
1945     Appalachian spring (Ballet for Martha) by Aaron Copland
1946     The canticle of the Sun by Leo Sowerby
1947     Symphony no. 3 : The camp meeting (1901-1912) by Charles Ives
1948     Symphony no. 3 by Walter Piston
1949     Music for the film Louisiana Story by Virgil Thomson
1950     The consul : musical drama in three acts by Gian-Carlo Menotti
1951     Giants in the earth by Douglas S. Moore
1952     Symphony concertante by Gail Kubik
1953     No award
1954     Concerto for two pianos and orchestra by Quincy Porter
1955     The saint of Bleecker Street : musical drama in three acts (five scenes) by Gian-Carlo Menotti
1956     Symphony no. 3 by Ernst Toch
1957     Meditations on Ecclesiastes : for string orchestra by Norman Dello Joio
1958     Vanessa : an opera in four acts by Samuel Barber; libretto by Gian-Carlo Menotti
1959     Concerto for piano and orchestra by John LaMontaine
1960     String quartet no. 2 by Elliott Carter
1961     Symphony no. 7 (1960) by Walter Piston
1962     The crucible : an opera in four acts by Robert Ward; libretto by Bernard Stambler, based on the play by Arthur Miller
1963     Piano concerto : op. 38 by Samuel Barber
1964     No award
1965     No award
1966     Variations for orchestra by Leslie Bassett
1967     Quartet No. 3 by Leon Kirchner
1968     Echoes of time and the river : four processionals for orchestra by George Crumb
1969     String quartet no. 3 by Karel Husa
1970     Time's encomium : for synthesized and processed sound by Charles Wuorinen
1971     Synchronisms no. 6, for piano and electronic sounds by Mario Davidovsky
1972     Windows by Jacob Druckman
1973     String quartet no. 3 by Elliott Carter
1974     Notturno : for flute, piccolo, and alto flute, B-flat clarinet and extended bass clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and viola, violoncello by Donald Martino
1975     From the diary of Virginia Woolf : for medium voice and piano by Dominick Argento
1976     Air music by Ned Rorem
1977     Visions of terror and wonder : for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by Richard Wernick
1978     Deja vu for percussion quartet and orchestra by Michael Colgrass
1979     Aftertones of infinity by Joseph Schwantner
1980     Child Alice.  Part 1, In memory of a summer day : for soprano solo and orchestra by David Del Tredici; text by Lewis Carroll
1981     No award
1982     Concerto for orchestra by Roger Sessions
1983     Symphony no. 1 : (three movements for orchestra) by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich
1984     Canti del sole : tenor and chamber ensemble by Bernard Rands
1985     RiverRun by Stephen Albert
1986     Wind quintet no. 4 for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon by George Perle
1987     The flight into Egypt : for four-part chorus of mixed voices with soprano and baritone solos and orchestra accompaniment by John Harbison
1988     12 new etudes for piano by William Bolcom
1989     Whispers out of time : string orchestra by Roger Reynolds
1990     "Duplicates" : a concerto for two pianos and orchestra by Mel Powell
1991     Symphony (1989-90) by Shulamit Ran
1992     The face of the night, the heart of the dark : orchestra by Wayne Peterson
1993     Trombone concerto by Christopher Rouse
1994     Of reminiscences and reflections : for orchestra by Gunther Schuller
1995     Stringmusic : for string orchestra by Morton Gould
1996     Lilacs : voice and orchestra (1995) by George Walker
1997     Blood on the fields by Wynton Marsalis
1998     String quartet no. 2 (musica instrumentalis) by Aaron Jay Kernis
1999     Concerto for flute, strings, and percussion by Melinda Wagner
2000     Life is a dream : an opera in three acts : Act II, concert version by Lewis Spratlan
2001     Symphony no. 2 for string orchestra by John Corigliano
2002     Ice field : spatial narratives for large and small orchestral groups by Henry Brant
2003     On the transmigration of souls by John Adams
2004     Tempest fantasy : for clarinet, violin, violoncello & piano by Paul Moravec
2005     Second concerto for orchestra by Steven Stucky
2006     Piano concerto 'Chiavi in Mano' by Yehudi Wyner
2007     Sound grammar by Ornette Coleman (recording)
2008     The little match girl passion by David Lang (recording)
2009     Double sextet : for ensemble, or ensemble and pre-recorded tape by Steve Reich
2010     Violin concerto by Jennifer Higdon
2011     "Madame White Snake" by Zhou Long
2012     Silent night : opera in two acts by Kevin Puts
2013     Partita for 8 voices by Caroline Shaw (recording)
2014     Become ocean : for orchestra by John Luther Adams
2015     Anthracite fields by Julia Wolfe
2016     In for a penny, in for a pound by Henry Threadgill (Pi Recordings)
2017     Angel's bone by Du Yun ; libretto by Royce Vavrek
2018     DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar