A Prize in Every Box

A past week of prizes--the Pulitzers and the Glenn Gould. The Glenn Gould Prize went to the majestic soprano Jessye Norman, whom some of us were fortunate to hear at Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre a generation ago. She sang the Strauss "Four Last Songs," which has become her signature work, but she also sang some cabaret songs, giving a clever Dietrich impression.

Much excitement over the Pulitzer Prize in music going to rapper Kendrick Lamar for his album "Damn." it has been noted that he is the first pop artist to receive the prize. The jazz breakthrough came in 1997, when Wynton Marsalis was awarded the Pulitzer for his oratorio "Blood on the Fields." Then, in 2007, Ornette Coleman was rewarded for "Sound Grammar."

The most notorious incident involving the music award came in 1967, when the administrators of the prizes refused the judges' recommendation that it be given to Duke Ellington. The judges, including critic Winthrop Sergeant, resigned in fury, but Ellington remained cool--at least, in public---saying, "Fate has been kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to become famous too young." Ellington was then sixty-seven. He was awarded a citation, posthumously--the same belated honor given to George Gershwin, Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Hank Williams. Bob Dylan was still around to receive his.

Not all winners have accepted the prize. Among those who said, "Thanks, but no thanks" was William Saroyan, awarded the Pulitzer for drama in 1940. He declared that "commerce should not judge the arts."

But knowing writers, we bet there were moments later when he wished he had taken the $1,000 prize. (It's now $15,000.)