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20th century

Baroque

Classical

Romantic

20th century

21st century

Solo repertoire

Piccolo

Alto flute

Bass flute

Kay Ulysses

Aitken, Robert

Amirov, Fikret

Amlin, Martin

Amram, David

Andriessen, Jurriaan

Arnold, Malcolm

Arrieu, Claude

Auric, Georges

Babbit, Milton

Bacchus, Peter

Bacri, Nicolas

Baker, Michael Conway

Baksa, Robert

Barber, Samuel

Barrere, Georges

Bartók, Béla Viktor János

Baton, René-Emmanuel

Beaser, Robert

Bennet, Richard Rodney

Berg, Gunnar

Berio, Luciano

Bernofsky, Lauren

Bernstein, Leonard

Bloch, Ernest

Bolling, Claude

Bon, Maarten

Bonis, Mel

Boughton, Rutland

Boulanger, Marie-Juliette

Boulez, Pierre

Bourdin, Roger

Bournonville, Armand

Bowen, Edwin York

Bozza, Eugène Joseph

Bréville, Pierre

Brings, Allen

Brotons, Salvador

Brown, Elizabeth

Brun, Georges

Burkhard, Willy

Burton, Eldin

Büsser, Henri

Camus, Pierre

Carmichael, John

Carter, Elliott

Casella, Alfredo

Chaynes, Charles

Clarke, Ian

Colgrass, Michael

Colquhoun, Michael

Copland, Aaron

Corigliano, John

Cortese, Luigi

Currier, Sebastian

Dahl, Walter Ingolf Marcus

Damase, Jean-Michel

Davidovsky, Mario

De Lorenzo, Leonardo

Debussy, Claude

Del Tredici, David

DeLaney, Charles Oliver

Delerue, Georges

Denisov, Edison

Dèsbriere, Jacques

Dick, Robert

Dinicu, Grigoraș

Dodgson, Stephen

Dohnányi, Ernő

Dubois, Pierre Max

Dukas, Paul

Durey, Louis

Dutilleux, Henri

Enescu, George

Farkas, Ferenc

Feld, Jindřich

Ferroud, Pierre-Octave

Flothuis, Marius

Folio, Cynthia

Foote, Arthur

Foss, Lukas

Françaix, Jean

Fukushima, Kazuo

Gade, Jacob

Gál, Hans

Gaubert, Philippe

Genzmer, Harald

George, Thom Ritter

Ghidoni, Armando

Gieseking, Walter

Glass, Philip

Glière, Reinhold

Golovin, Andrei

Gordeli, Otar

Grier, Lita

Griffes, Charles Tomlinson

Grinblat, Romuald

Grovlez, Gabriel

Guarnieri, Mozart Camargo

Gubajdulina, Sofia

Hahn, Reynaldo

Hailstork, Adolphus

Halphen, Fernand

Hanson, Howard Harold

Harberg, Amanda

Harbison, John

Harsányi, Tibor

Harty, Hamilton

Heiss, John

Heith, David

Henze, Hans-Werner

Higdon, Jennifer

Hindemith, Paul

Holliger, Heinz

Holmboe, Vagn

Honegger, Arthur

Hoover, Katherine

Hosokawa, Toshio

Hovhaness, Alan

Hüe, Georges Adolphe

Hurel, Philippe

Ibert, Jacques

Ichiyanagi, Toshi

Ittzés, Gergely

Ives, Charles

Jacob, Gordon

James, Bob

Jemnitz, Sándor

Jirák, Karel Boleslav

Jóhannsson, Magnús Blöndal

Jolivet, André

Jongen, Joseph

Karg-Elert, Sigfrid

Kay, Ulysses

Kelterborn, Rudolf

Ķeniņš, Tālivaldis

Kennan, Kent Wheeler

Kennedy, Martin

Kernis, Aaron Jay

Khachaturian, Aram

Kocsár, Miklós

Kodaly, Zoltan

Koechlin, Charles

Kornauth, Egon

Kraft, Leo

Krzywicki, Jan

Kupferman, Meyer

La Montaine, John

Lauber, Joseph

Lavista, Mario

Lee, Eugene

Leeuwen, Ary van

Levinson, Gerald

Liebermann, Lowell

Loudova, Ivana

Mack, Dieter

Mahler, Gustav

Maresz, Yan

Martin, Frank

Martino, Donald

Martinů, Bohuslav

Meltzer, Harold

Messiaen, Olivier

Mihalovici, Marcel

Milhaud, Darius

Mouquet, Jules

Mower, Mike

Muczynski, Robert

Nielsen, Carl

Norby, Erik

Nordenstrom, Gladys

Offermans, Wil

Olsen, Carl Gustav Sparre

Paget, Daniel

Perle, George

Petrovics, Emil

Piazzolla, Astor

Piston, Walter

Poulenc, Francis

Prokofiev, Sergey

Rachmaninoff, Sergei

Ran, Shulamit

Raphael, Günter

Rautavaara, Einojuhani

Ravel, Maurice

Reynolds, Verne

Riegger, Wallingford

Rivier, Jean

Rodrigo, Joaquin

Rota, Nino

Rotaru, Doina

Rouse, Christopher

Roussel, Albert

Rutter, John

Saariaho, Kaija

Sancan, Pierre

Schmidt, Ole

Schocker, Gary

Schulhoff, Erwin

Schwantner, Joseph

Sciarrino, Salvatore

Shostakovich, Dmitri

Sibelius, Jean

Smit, Leo

Tailleferre, Germaine

Takemitsu, Tōru

Taktakishvili, Otar

Tansman, Alexandre

Tomasi, Henri

Tower, Joan

Uébayashi, Yuko

Varèse, Edgar

Vasks, Pēteris

Weigl, Vally

Weinberg, Mieczysław

Wilder, Alec

Williams, Ralph Vaughan

Yi, Chen

Yun, Isang

Zgraja, Krystof

Prelude for Unaccompanied Flute

Prelude for Unaccompanied Flute

By Kay Ulysses

Ulysses Kay: Prelude for Unaccompanied Flute was written in 1943. The piece is dedicated to Martin Heylman, a flutist who played with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony at that time.
Kay originally conceived the Prelude as an etude to help flutists develop proper breathing techniques and stamina. Its metronome marking of 50 BPM creates demanding phrases that test a performer's breath control.
In 1943, Ulysses Kay was serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was stationed at Quonset Point, Rhode Island, as a member of the Navy Band. There, he learned to play the flute and piccolo. His first-hand experience learning the instrument that year directly informed the technical challenges and "ruminative" character of the Prelude. 1943 marked a prolific "fruitful period" for Kay despite the war. He had recently completed studies with Paul Hindemith at Yale (1941–1942), and the Prelude reflects Hindemith’s influence through its lean counterpoint and organized tonal shifts.

Catherine Ramirez (flute), "Claiming Space" recital at the Flute Center, 2024

Prelude for Unaccompanied Flute

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Kay Ulysses

Ulysses Kay (1917–1995) was an African American composer of the mid-20th century, associated with the neoclassical movement and recognized for his sophisticated orchestral and choral works.
Born in Tucson, Arizona, he grew up in a musically enriched environment. His uncle was the legendary jazz cornetist King Oliver. While Oliver encouraged his nephew's musical pursuits, he specifically steered him toward formal classical training rather than jazz, a distinction that defined Kay’s professional identity.
Kay began piano lessons at age six and later took up the violin and saxophone. He earned a Bachelor of Music from the University of Arizona and received a Master of Music from the Eastman School of Music (1940), where he studied with Howard Hanson and Bernard Rogers. He engaged in pivotal summer studies at Tanglewood and later at Yale University (1941–1942) under Paul Hindemith. Hindemith’s focus on objective craft and contrapuntal clarity became the hallmark of Kay’s mature style.
During World War II (1942–1946), he served in the U.S. Navy Band, where he learned to play the flute and piccolo. He was the first African American to win the Prix de Rome (twice, in 1949 and 1951) and received a Fulbright Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He served as a professor at Lehman College (CUNY) from 1968 until his retirement in 1988.
His works are characterized by lyricism, tonal centricity, and intricate counterpoint, often avoiding explicit folk or jazz idioms in favor of a universal, modernist language.