Open Daily 9:30–6:00, Monday Until 8:00

1917-1995

Ulysses Kay

By Henry Brant

Tonight we take leave of our friend and colleague, Ulysses Simpson Kay, composer of music.

Instead of talking about him, what better way to honor his memory than to invite him to speak to us for a few minutes in his own language, his music.

Our music has lost an eloquent voice, and at a time when new music is seldom encountered at orchestral concerts. Yet the power of symphonic composers to provide psychic nutrients essential to the human condition is unmistakably felt in music such as we have just heard.

So then, farewell, friend Ulysses, and for your music, many, many thanks.

A five-minute, taped excerpt from a symphonic piece by Ulysses Kay was played.

Read by Francis Thorne at the Academy Dinner Meeting on April 2, 1996.

© 2021 American Academy of Arts and Letters