There were actually only 4 composers because Robert Russell Bennett was awarded 2/5 of the prize. Here's from the liner notes to a Naxos recording of Bennett's _Abraham Lincoln_ (quoted at http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?item_code=8.559004&catNum=559004&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English):
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In Paris and Berlin in 1927-28, on a Guggenheim Scholarship, he noticed an RCA Victor competition with a prize of 25,000 dollars for an outstanding orchestral composition, with a small prize for a lighter piece of music. He submitted the two works on this disc - the patriotic Abraham Lincoln and the abstract orchestral painting of Sights and Sounds. Both pieces were scored for an enormous band of musicians and are of large proportions.
RCA Victor's jury consisted of Leopold Stokowski, Serge Koussevitzky, Frederick Stock, Rudolph Ganz and Olga Samaroff. They decided no work was better than any other to win outright and awarded five prizes to Aaron Copland's Dance Symphony, Louis Gruenberg's Symphony, Ernst Bloch's Helvetia and two 5,000 dollar awards to Bennett's pieces.
Despite their huge orchestral forces, Bennett's prizewinners were then published. Abraham Lincoln was first performed by Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra in October 1931, with a second performance given a fortnight later at the dedication of the Juilliard School's new auditorium. For this, Bennett wrote his own programme notes, drawn from below.
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Alec
At 11:19 AM 4/17/2006, Paul Charosh wrote:
In 1929, RCA Victor offered a prize of $25,000 for a new symphonic work.
The
prize was divided among five composers. Copland was one; he received $5,000
for his submission.
How to find out who were the other four recipients? Also, who at RCA/Victor
was in charge of the competition? Can one find out who were the judges?
Can
one find out who submitted works?
Paul Charosh
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Alec McLane Scores & Recordings/ World Music Archives Phone: (860) 685-3899 Olin Library Fax: (860) 685-2661 Wesleyan University mailto:amclane@xxxxxxxxxxxx Middletown, CT 06459 http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/srhome/srdir.htm
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