Kay, Ulysses: Two Impromptus

Mentored by the likes of William Grant Still, Paul Hindemith, and Howard Hanson, Kay was an impressive composer by any metric, winning a Fulbright Scholarship, the prestigious Rome Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship and a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship. Kay favored neoclassical tendencies in his works, featuring lyricism, contrapuntal textures, clear formal designs and a tonal, yet chromatic harmonic vocabulary, all of which are evident in his Two Impromptus from 1986. The two impromptus are contrasting, the first beginning with a moody, angular adagio and maintaining its meditative state throughout. The second is faster, beginning with a flowing allegretto, with a quasi-tonal harmonic sensibility that is characteristic of Kay’s particular brand of neo-classicism, and a beautiful, lyrical melody that begs to be sung. The pieces could be performed just as well separately as together. For the intermediate to advanced pianist.