The Pulitzer Prize for Music was first awarded in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer did not call for such a prize in his will, but had arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year. This was eventually converted into a full fledged prize.

The winners in this category have been:

  • 1943 - William Schuman, Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song
  • 1944 - Howard Hanson, Symphony No. 4
  • 1945 - Aaron Copland, Appalachian Spring, ballet
  • 1946 - Leo Sowerby, The Canticle of the Sun
  • 1947 - Charles Ives, Symphony No. 3
  • 1948 - Walter Piston, Symphony No. 3
  • 1949 - Virgil Thomson, Louisiana Story, film score
  • 1950 - Gian-Carlo Menotti, The Consul, opera
  • 1951 - Douglas Moore, Giants in the Earth, opera
  • 1952 - Gail Kubik, Symphony Concertante
  • 1953 - no prize awarded
  • 1954 - Quincy Porter, Concerto Concertante for two pianos and orchestra
  • 1955 - Gian-Carlo Menotti, The Saint of Bleecker Street, opera
  • 1956 - Ernst Toch, Symphony No. 3
  • 1957 - Norman Dello Joio, Meditations on Ecclesiastes
  • 1958 - Samuel Barber, Vanessa, opera
  • 1959 - John La Montaine, Piano Concerto
  • 1960 - Elliott Carter, String Quartet No. 2
  • 1961 - Walter Piston, Symphony No. 7
  • 1962 - Robert Ward, The Crucible, opera
  • 1963 - Samuel Barber, Piano Concerto No. 1
  • 1964 - no prize awarded
  • 1965 - no prize awarded (See Duke Ellington)
  • 1966 - Leslie Bassett, Variations for Orchestra
  • 1967 - Leon Kirchner, Quartet No. 3 for strings and electronic tape
  • 1968 - George Crumb, Echoes of Time and the River
  • 1969 - Karel Husa, String Quartet No. 3
  • 1970 - Charles Wuorinen, Time's Encomium
  • 1971 - Mario Davidovsky, Synchronisms No. 6
  • 1972 - Jacob Druckman, Windows
  • 1973 - Elliott Carter, String quartet No. 3
  • 1974 - Donald Martino, Notturno
  • 1975 - Dominick Argento, From the Diary of Virginia Woolf
  • 1976 - Ned Rorem, Air Music
  • 1977 - Richard Wernick, Visions of Terror and Wonder
  • 1978 - Michael Colgrass, Deja Vu for percussion and orchestra
  • 1979 - Joseph Schwantner, Aftertones of Infinity
  • 1980 - David Del Tredici, In Memory of a Summer Day
  • 1981 - no prize awarded
  • 1982 - Roger Sessions, Concerto for Orchestra
  • 1983 - Ellen Zwilich, Three Movements for Orchestra (Symphony No. 1)
  • 1984 - Bernard Rands, Canti del Sole
  • 1985 - Stephen Albert, Symphony RiverRun
  • 1986 - George Perle, Wind Quintet No. 4, for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon
  • 1987 - John Harbison, The Flight into Egypt
  • 1988 - William Bolcom, 12 New Etudes for Piano
  • 1989 - Roger Reynolds, Whispers Out of Time
  • 1990 - Mel D. Powell, Duplicates: A Concerto
  • 1991 - Shulamit Ran, Symphony
  • 1992 - Wayne Peterson, The Face of the Night
  • 1993 - Christopher Rouse, Trombone Concerto
  • 1994 - Gunther Schuller, Of Reminiscences and Reflections
  • 1995 - Morton Gould, Stringmusic
  • 1996 - George Walker, Lilacs, for soprano and orchestra
  • 1997 - Wynton Marsalis, Blood on the Fields, oratorio
  • 1998 - Aaron Jay Kernis, String Quartet No. 2, Musica Instrumentalis
  • 1999 - Melinda Wagner, Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion
  • 2000 - Lewis Spratlan, Life is a Dream, opera (awarded for concert version of Act II)
  • 2001 - John Corigliano, Symphony No. 2 for string orchestra
  • 2002 - Henry Brant, Ice Field
  • 2003 - John Adams, On the Transmigration of Souls