THE PULITZERS

Composer’s Response: “I don’t remember thinking anything when I heard the news,” Baltimore-born composer Christopher Rouse said of word that he had won the Pulitzer Prize for music for his Trombone Concerto. Speaking to reporters in Rochester, N.Y., where he teaches at the Eastman School of Music, Rouse said: “I was more stunned than anything. What will come out of this, it’s too soon to say. All of my friends who win just say that you spend a lot of time on the phone for two days, and then everyone quiets down.” Rouse, known for the loudness of his music (he made headlines in 1985 when a disgruntled Indianapolis Symphony player filed a complaint about the music’s decibel levels), said: “To me, loud dynamics have to do with expressive urgency. What’s important is what music conveys and how it’s meaningful to the human spirit. If one has something urgent to say, intense emotions are usually lined up with loud dynamics. Part of being a human being is a need to beat one’s breast--to shout or scream.”