Mentored by such greats as William Grant Still, Paul Hindemith, and Howard Hanson, Ulysses Kay was a prolific and respected African American composer who won many accolades during his lifetime, including a Guggenheim, a Fulbright, and several honorary doctorates. All the hallmarks of Kay's characteristic neoclassical style, featuring lyricism, contrapuntal textures, clear formal designs and a tonal, yet chromatic harmonic vocabulary, are evident in his Pietà from 1950. The work’s title, meaning mercy or compassion, was perhaps inspired by Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of the Virgin Mary cradling the crucified Christ, which the composer surely would have seen during his stay in Rome upon winning the prestigious American Prix de Rome.