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.
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.
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.
