Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition

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Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Awarded forQuality contemporary classical music compositions
CountryUnited States
Presented byNational Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
First awarded1961
Currently held byChristopher Rouse for Symphony No. 5 (2021)
Websitegrammy.com

The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards,[1] to composers for quality works of contemporary classical music. Honors in several categories are presented at the ceremony annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".[2]

The award was first presented in 1961 to Aaron Copland for his Orchestral Suite from The Tender Land Suite. It was not presented from 1967 to 1984. The Grammy is awarded to the composer(s) and the librettist (if applicable) of a classical piece composed in the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the eligibility year. The performing artist, orchestra, ensemble, etc., do not receive a Grammy (except if the performer is also the composer). Since its inception, the award has had several minor name changes.[a]

Composers John Adams, Samuel Barber, John Corigliano and Jennifer Higdon are tied for the most wins in this category, with three each. Multiple composers have won twice: Michael Daugherty, Krzysztof Penderecki, Christopher Rouse and Igor Stravinsky. In one year, 1962, the award was given to two composers, Laurindo Almeida and Stravinsky.

Recipients[]

Aaron Copland was the first recipient of the award.
The composer Igor Stravinsky won in 1962 and 1963.
Three-time winner Samuel Barber (photograph by Carl Van Vechten).
The composer Krzysztof Penderecki, the winner in 1988 and 1999.
Three-time winner John Adams.
2004 winner Dominick Argento.
2014 winner Maria Schneider.
The composer Michael Daugherty who won in 2011 and 2017.
Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition[3]
Year Composer Work Nominees
1961 Aaron Copland Orchestral Suite from The Tender Land Suite
  • Easley Blackwood Jr. – Symphony No. 1
  • Paul Hindemith – Sonata For Cello And Piano
  • Charles Ives – Symphony No. 2
  • Francis Poulenc – La voix humaine
  • Roger Sessions – Symphony No. 1
  • Igor Stravinsky – Threni
  • Edgard Varèse – Density 21.5
1962 Laurindo Almeida Discantus
  • Francis Poulenc – Gloria In G Major
  • Elliott Carter – String Quartet No. 2
  • Gunther Schuller – Music For Brass Quintet
Igor Stravinsky Movements for Piano and Orchestra
1963 Igor Stravinsky The Flood: A Musical Play
  • Edgard Varèse – Arcana
  • Aaron Copland – Connotations
  • Benjamin Britten – Noye's Fludde
  • Lukas Foss – Song Of Songs
  • William Walton – Symphony No. 2
  • Lukas Foss – Time Cycle
1964 Benjamin Britten War Requiem
  • Samuel Barber – Andromache's Farewell
  • John La Montaine – Concerto For Piano
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos – Cello Concerto No. 2
  • Dmitri Shostakovich – Symphony No. 4
  • William Schuman – Symphony No. 8
1965 Samuel Barber Piano Concerto
  • Darius Milhaud – A Frenchman In New York
  • Charles Ives – A Symphony: New England Holidays
  • Igor Stravinsky – A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer
  • Leonard Bernstein – Symphony No. 3 "Kaddish"
1966 Charles Ives Symphony No. 4
  • Leonard Bernstein – Chichester Psalms
  • Benjamin Britten – Cantata misericordium
  • David Diamond – String Quartet No. 4
  • Morton Gould – World War I Suite
  • William Walton – Variations on a Theme by Hindemith
1985 Samuel Barber Antony and Cleopatra
  • Morton Gould – Apple Waltzes
  • Joseph Schwantner – Magabunda "Four poems of Agueda Pizarro"
  • Frank Zappa – "The Perfect Stranger"
  • Vincent Persichetti – Winter Cantata
1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber Requiem
  • John Adams – Harmonium
  • Philip Glass – Satyagraha
  • George Perle – Serenade No. 3 For Piano And Chamber Orchestra
  • Robert Starer – Violin Concerto
1987 Witold Lutosławski Symphony No. 3
1988 Krzysztof Penderecki Cello Concerto No. 2
  • John Adams – The Chairman Dances
  • Milton Babbitt – Piano Concerto
  • Joseph Schwantner – A Sudden Rainbow
  • Roger Sessions – Symphony No. 5
  • Michael Tippett – The Mask Of Time
1989 John Adams Nixon in China
  • Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Wadsworth – A Quiet Place
  • William Bolcom – Symphony No. 4
  • Ned Rorem – String Symphony
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen – Amour
1990 Steve Reich Different Trains
1991 Leonard Bernstein Arias and Barcarolles
  • John Adams – The Wound-Dresser
  • Henri Lazarof – Tableaux (After Kandinsky) For Piano And Orchestra
  • Terry Riley – Salome Dances For Peace
  • Ellen Taaffe Zwilich – Symphony No. 2
1992 John Corigliano Symphony No. 1
1993 Samuel Barber The Lovers
1994 Elliott Carter Violin Concerto
  • Donald Erb – Cello Concerto
  • Tōru Takemitsu – A Way A Lone
  • Michael Tippett – Byzantium
  • William Bolcom – Orphee-Serenade
1995 Stephen Albert Cello Concerto
1996 Olivier Messiaen Concert à quatre
1997 John Corigliano String Quartet No. 1
  • John Adams – Violin Concerto
  • Colin Matthews – Fourth Sonata
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara – Symphony No. 7: "Angel of Light"
  • Gunther Schuller – Four Soundscapes
1998 John Adams El Dorado
  • Lowell Liebermann – Concerto No. 2 For Piano And Orchestra
  • Per Nørgård – Symphony No. 5
  • Richard Danielpour – Concerto For Orchestra
  • Aaron Jay Kernis – Second Symphony
1999 Krzysztof Penderecki Violin Concerto No. 2 "Metamorphosen"
  • John Adams – Gnarly Buttons
  • Elliott Carter – 90+
  • Arvo Pärt – Kanon Pokajanen
  • George Tsontakis – Ghost Variations
2000 Pierre Boulez Répons
  • Aaron Jay Kernis – Air For Violin
  • John Tavener – Eternity's Sunrise
  • Thomas Adès – Asyla
  • Andrew Imbrie – Requiem
2001 George Crumb Star-Child
  • Heiner Goebbels – Surrogate Cities
  • Nicholas Maw – Violin Concerto
  • Ned Rorem – Evidence Of Things Not Seen
  • Rodion Shchedrin – Concerto Cantabile
2002 Christopher Rouse Concert de Gaudí
  • Poul Ruders – The Handmaid's Tale
  • John Tavener – Total Eclipse
  • Pierre Boulez – Sur Incises
2003 John Tavener Lamentations & Praises
2004 Dominick Argento Casa Guidi
2005 John Adams On the Transmigration of Souls
  • Jennifer Higdon – Concerto For Orchestra
  • Tigran Mansurian – "... and then I was in time again"
  • André Previn – Violin Concerto
  • Valentyn Silvestrov – Requiem For Larissa
2006 William Bolcom Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience
2007 Osvaldo Golijov Ainadamar
  • Elliott Carter – Boston Concerto
  • Christopher Theofanidis – The Here And Now
  • David Del Tredici – Paul Revere's Ride
  • James MacMillan – A Scotch Bestiary
2008 Joan Tower Made In America
2009 John Corigliano Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems Of Bob Dylan
  • Marc-André Dalbavie – Flute Concerto
  • Michael Gandolfi – The Garden Of Cosmic Speculation
  • George Tsontakis – Violin Concerto No. 2
  • Chris Walden – Symphony No. 1, The Four Elements
2010 Jennifer Higdon Percussion Concerto
2011 Michael Daugherty Deus ex Machina
2012 Robert Aldridge Elmer Gantry
  • George Crumb – The Ghosts Of Alhambra
  • Jefferson Friedman – String Quartet No. 3
  • Steven Mackey – Lonely Motel - Music From Slide
  • Poul Ruders – Piano Concerto No. 2
2013 Stephen Hartke Meanwhile - Incidental Music To Imaginary Puppet Plays
2014 Maria Schneider Winter Morning Walks
2015 John Luther Adams Become Ocean
  • Anna Clyne – Prince of Clouds
  • George Crumb – Voices From The Heartland
  • Stephen Paulus – Concerto For Two Trumpets & Band
  • Roberto Sierra – Sinfonía No. 4
2016 Stephen Paulus Prayers and Remembrances
2017 Michael Daugherty Tales of Hemingway
  • Jennifer Higdon – Cold Mountain
  • Christopher Theofanidis – Bassoon Concerto
  • Kip Winger – Conversations With Nijinsky
  • Mason Bates – Anthology of Fantastic Zoology
2018 Jennifer Higdon Viola Concerto
  • – Concerto For Orchestra
  • Adam Schoenberg – Picture Studies
  • Tigran Mansurian – Requiem
  • Richard Danielpour – Songs Of Solitude
2019 Aaron Jay Kernis Violin Concerto
  • Jake Heggie – Great Scott
  • Missy Mazzoli – Vespers For Violin
  • Mason Bates – The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
  • Du Yun – Air Glow
2020 Jennifer Higdon Harp Concerto
  • Derek Bermel – Migration Series For Jazz Ensemble & Orchestra
  • Wynton Marsalis – Violin Concerto In D Major
  • Andrew Norman – Sustain
  • Caroline Shaw – Orange
  • Julia Wolfe – Fire In My Mouth Show
2021 Christopher Rouse Symphony No. 5
  • Carlisle Floyd – Prince of Players
  • Ted Hearne – Place
  • Thomas Adès – Piano Concerto
  • Richard Danielpour – The Passion Of Yeshua
2022 Winner TBA on 3 April 2022
  • Andy Akiho - Seven Pillars
  • Louis Andriessen - The Only One
  • Clarice Assad, Sérgio Assad, Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin & David Skidmore - Archetypes
  • Jon Batiste - Movement 11
  • Caroline Shaw - Narrow Sea

Notes[]

  1. ^
    • From 1961 to 1962 the award was known as Best Contemporary Classical Composition
    • In 1963 it was awarded as Best Contemporary Composition
    • In 1965 it was awarded as Best Composition by a Contemporary Composer
    • In 1966 and 1964 it was awarded as Best Composition by a Contemporary Classical Composer
    • In 1985 it was awarded as Best New Classical Composition
    • From 1986 to 1994 it was again awarded as Best Contemporary Composition
    • From 1995 to 2011 it was again awarded as Best Classical Contemporary Composition
    • In 2012 the category was renamed into Best Contemporary Classical Composition

References[]

  1. ^ "Grammy Awards at a Glance". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  2. ^ "Overview". National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
  3. ^ "Grammy Awards Winners & Nominees for Best Classical Contemporary Composition". The Recording Academy. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
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