Pulitzer-Prize-winning composer Charles Wuorinen (born 1938) remained at the forefront of the contemporary music scene throughout his prolific career. Following in the tradition of the post-World War II serialists, his works employed techniques to achieve new heights of lyricism, richness, and subtlety.

Charles Wuorinen was born in New York City on June 9, 1938. His father taught history at Columbia University for 40 years, and his early training in composition came from Jack Beeson and Vladmir Ussachevsky, both Columbia University professors. He started playing the piano and composing at age five. At 16, he won the New York Philharmonic's Young Composers Award. Wuorinen enrolled at Columbia in 1956 and studied composition with Otto Luening. He wrote his earliest orchestral work, Into the Organ Pipes and Steeples, at 18. While working as a piano accompanist, recording engineer, and singer, Wuorinen attended the Bennington Composers Conference in Vermont for four years. At 21, he composed his first three...