Concerto for Flute, Strings, and Percussion

Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion is a 1998 musical composition by Melinda Wagner, who was awarded the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Music for the work. A concerto for flute and orchestra, it was commissioned by the Westchester Philharmonic Orchestra, who premiered it May 30th, 1998,^[1] for flutist and conductor Paul Lustig Dunkel.^[2]

The Music Jury came to a unanimous conclusion that Melinda Wagner's Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion was by a considerable extent the finest work in this year's list of entries. Her concerto is brilliantly virtuosic not only in the solo flute part but in the superbly integrated orchestra accompaniment. At times passionate, at others poignantly lyric, the work's kaleidoscopic textures and instrumental colors keep the listener completely engrossed.

— The Pulitzer Prize Board^[3]

Containing strings, percussion, keyboards, celeste, and harp^[4] while omitting brass and woodwinds, the ensemble is similar to that of Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta.^[2] The piece contains three movements: sonata-allegro, lullaby, and rondo.^[2]

Sources

1. Hill, Brad (2006). American Popular Music: Classical, p.55. ISBN 978-0-8160-5311-7.
2. "Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion", ArtoftheStates.org.
3. Fischer, Heinz Dietrich (2010). The Pulitzer Prize winners for music, p.238. ISBN 978-3-631-59608-1.
4. "The Pulitzer for Music", PBS.org, April 19, 1999.