| Year | Name | Winning Work |
| 1943 | Schuman, William (b. 1910) | Secular Cantata No. 2: A Free Song for full chorus of mixed voices, with accompaniment of orchestra |
| 1944 | Hanson, Howard (1896-1981) | Symphony no. 4, op. 34 |
| 1945 | Copland, Aaron (1900-1990) | Appalachian Spring |
| 1946 | Sowerby, Leo (1895-1968) | The Canticle of the Sun |
| 1947 | Ives, Charles (1874-1954) | Symphony No. 3 |
| 1948 | Piston, Walter (1894-1976) | Symphony No. 3 |
| 1949 | Thomson, Virgil (1896-1989) | Louisiana Story (score for a documentary film) |
| 1950 | Menotti, Gian-Carlo (b. 1911) | The Consul (opera) |
| 1951 | Moore, Douglas (1893-1969) | Giants in the Earth (opera) |
| 1952 | Kubik, Gail (1914-1984) | Symphony Concertante |
| 1954 | Porter, Quincy (1897-1966) | Concerto Concertante for Two Pianos and Orchestra |
| 1955 | Menotti, Gian-Carlo (b. 1911) | The Saint of Bleecker Street (opera) |
| 1956 | Toch, Ernst (1887-1964) | Symphony No. 3 |
| 1957 | Dello Joio, Norman (b. 1913) | Meditations on Ecclesiastes |
| 1958 | Barber, Samuel (1910-1981) | Vanessa (opera) |
| 1959 | La Montaine, John (b. 1920) | Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 9 |
| 1960 | Carter, Elliott (b. 1908) | Second String Quartet |
| 1961 | Piston, Walter (1894-1976) | Symphony no. 7 |
| 1962 | Ward, Robert (b. 1917) | The Crucible (opera) |
| 1963 | Barber, Samuel (1910-1981) | Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 38 |
| 1966 | Bassett, Leslie (b. 1923) | Variations for Orchestra |
| 1967 | Kirchner, Leon (b. 1919) | Quartet No. 3 for Strings and Electronic Tape |
| 1968 | Crumb, George (b. 1929) | Echoes of Time and the River |
| 1969 | Husa, Karel (b. 1921) | String Quartet No. 3 |
| 1970 | Wuorinen, Charles (b. 1938) | Time's Encomium |
| 1971 | Davidovsky, Mario (b. 1934) | Synchronisms No. 6 |
| 1972 | Druckman, Jacob (1928-1996) |
Windows |
| 1973 | Carter, Elliott (b. 1908) | String Quartet No. 3 |
| 1974 | Martino, Donald (b. 1931) | Notturno |
| 1975 | Argento, Dominick (b. 1927) | From the Diary of Virginia Woolf |
| 1976 | Rorem, Ned (b. 1923) | Air Music |
| 1977 | Wernick, Richard (b. 1934) | Visions of Terror and Wonder |
| 1978 | Collgrass, Michael (b. 1932) | Deja Vu for Percussion and Orchestra |
| 1979 | Schwantner, Joseph (b. 1943) | Aftertones of Infinity |
| 1980 | Del Tredici, David (b. 1937) | In Memory of a Summer Day |
| 1982 | Sessions, Roger (1896-1985) | Concerto for Orchestra |
| 1983 | Zwilich, Ellen Taafe (b. 1939) | Symphony No. 1 |
| 1984 | Rands, Bernard (b. 1934) | Canti del Sole |
| 1985 | Albert, Stephen (1941-1992) | River Run (symphony) |
| 1986 | Perle, George (b. 1915) | Wind Quintet No. 4, for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon |
| 1987 | Harbison, John (b. 1938) | The Flight Into Egypt |
| 1988 | Bolcom, William (b. 1938) | 12 New Etudes for Piano |
| 1989 | Reynolds, Roger (b. 1934) | Whispers Out of Time |
| 1990 | Powell, Mel D. (1923-1998) | Duplicates: A Concerto |
| 1991 | Ran, Shulamit (b. 1949) | Symphony |
| 1992 | Peterson, Wayne (b. 1927) | The Face of the Night |
| 1993 | Rouse, Christopher (b. 1949) | Trombone Concerto |
| 1994 | Schuller, Gunther (b. 1925) | Of Reminiscences and Reflections |
| 1995 | Gould, Morton (1931-1996) | Stringmusic |
| 1996 | Walker, George (b. 1922) | Lilacs for Soprano and Orchestra |
| 1997 | Marsalis, Wynton (b. 1961) | Blood on the Fields (oratorio) |
| 1998 | Kernis, Aaron Jay (b. 1960) | String Quartet No. 2, "musica instrumentalis" |
| 1999 | Wagner, Melinda (b. 1965) | Concerto for Flute, Strings and Percussion |
| 2000 | Spratlan, Lewis (b. 1940) | Life is a Dream (opera) |
| 2001 | Corigliano, John (b. 1938) | Symphony No. 2 for String Orchestra |
| 2002 | Brant, Henry (b. 1913) | Ice Field: Spatial Narratives for Large and Small Orchestral Groups |
Source: The Pulitzer Prizes web site. URL = http://www.pulitzer.org/
