The 2nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on November 29, 1959, at Los Angeles and New York. They recognized musical accomplishments by performers for the year 1959. Hosted by Meredith Willson, this marked the first televised Grammy Award ceremony, and it was aired in episodes as special Sunday Showcase. It was held in the same year as the first Grammy Awards in 1959, and no award ceremony was held in 1960. These awards recognized musical accomplishments by performers for that particular year. Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington each won three awards.
Performers
Award winners
The following awards were given at the 1959 ceremony:
Children's
Classical
Comedy
Composing and arranging
- Best Musical Composition First Recorded and Released in 1959 (more than 5 minutes duration)
- Duke Ellington for Anatomy of a Murder Soundtrack
- Morton Gould, composer (Morton Gould, conductor) for "St. Lawrence Suite"
- Dmitri Shostakovich, comopser (Leonard Bernstein, conductor) for Shostakovich: Concerto #2 For Piano And Orchestra, Op. 101 performed by New York Philharmonic
- Sergei Prokofiev, composer (Jean Martinon, conductor) for Prokoviev: The Overture Russe Op. 72 performed by Paris Conservatoire Orchestra
- Henry Mancini, composer (Henry Mancini, conductor) for More Music From Peter Gunn
- Best Sound Track Album - Background Score from a Motion Picture or Television
- Duke Ellington (composer) for Anatomy of a Murder
- Franz Waxman, composer for The Nun's Story (Motion Picture Album)
- Stanley Wilson, composer for The Music From M Squad (TV Show) performed by Stanley Wilson
- Dick Cathcart, composer for Pete Kelly's Blues (TV Show)
- Henry Mancini, composer for More Music From Peter Gunn (TV Show) performed by Henry Mancini
- Best Arrangement
- Billy May (arranger) for "Come Dance with Me" performed by Frank Sinatra
- Robert Russell Bennett (arranger) for Victory At Sea, Vol. I performed by Robert Russell Bennett
- Esquivel (arranger) for "Strings Aflame" performed by Esquivel
- Henry Mancini (arranger) for More Music From Peter Gunn (TV Show) performed by Henry Mancini
- Richard Wess (arranger) for "Mack The Knife" performed by Bobby Darin
- John Green (arranger) for An Evening With Lerner And Lowe performed by John Green
Country
Folk
Jazz
Musical show
- Best Broadway Show Album (a tie)
- Ethel Merman & the original cast for
- The original cast with Gwen Verdon, Richard Kiley, Leonard Stone, Doris Rich, Cynthia Latham, Joy Nichols, Bob Dixon & Pat Ferrier for Redhead
- Hal Hastings & original cast with Carol Burnett, Joseph Bova, Allen Case, Jack Gilford, & Matt Mattox for "Once Upon A Mattress"
- John Gielgud for Ages Of Man
- Betty Comden & Adolph Green for A Party With Betty Comden And Adolph Green
- Best Sound Track Album, Original Cast - Motion Picture or Television
- André Previn, Ken Darby & the original cast for Porgy and Bess
- Mario Lanza for For The First Time
Packaging and notes
Pop
Production and engineering
R&B
Spoken
References