Janos Gereben, after wondering what the Pulitzer Prize Committee was
thinking when it awarded the music prize to Henry Brant's Ice Field, asks:

>Other finalists for the $7,500 prize were "Rilke Songs" by Peter Lieberson
>(heard in Berkeley, vastly enhanced by the magnificent Lorraine Hunt
>Lieberson's performance) and David Rakowski's Second Symphony ("Ten of a
>Kind").  Were these really the three best symphonic works premiered in the
>US last year?

No, but they might have been the three best works that were nominated.
I got some glimpse into this when a composer friend of mine had a piece
nominated one year.  He had no clue who nominated it or to whom to send
the bribe for more nominations.

Maybe there *is* an inner circle after all.

Steve Schwartz

 [There is, and I know how to get bribes to them.  Drop me a note for
 a mailing address....  -Dave]