A Summing Up

There’s a book a friend of mine, Robert Help, read when he was about my age, called The Summing Up, by Somerset Maugham. I’ve not yet read it (it’s on my list with several thousand others), but just the title strikes a responsive chord with me. It’s what I seem to be doing right now: summing up all I’ve written and recorded (audio and/or video), and where the scores and recordings might be found, listed all in into one spot: https://hiltonkeanjones.com/compositions/.

It’s a monumental effort. In addition to what’s already on that page, I have 46 more original compositions to get on there and 34 arrangements of public domain tunes. That’s not counting all the links that need to be added to existing listings on the page and any new pieces I might manage to write and record.

Why?

As a former composition student, now himself a teacher and a friend, once answered when I asked myself why I continued to write: “Because that’s what you do.” It’s probably the best answer I’ve ever heard. (I assume that answer also applies to organizing what one has written.) Although, I am well aware and fully admit “vanity of vanities! All things are vanity” is even more true.

The most recent addition to the composition page is an updated version of The World of Starlit Butterflies.

The World of Starlit Butterflies, 2022, 1 movement, solo piano
VIDEO – AUDIO
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/the-world-of-starlit-butterflies-digital-sheet-music/22378788
https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1225362/Product.aspx

The World of Starlit Butterflies, 2022, 1 movement, keyboard ensemble (piano & electronic keyboard)
VIDEO – AUDIO
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/the-world-of-starlit-butterflies-digital-sheet-music/22377404
https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/en-US/se/ID_No/1224408/Product.aspx

The piano part is completely rewritten so it’s shorter and hopefully more interesting but still fun to play and listen to. The 2 keyboard version and the solo piano version have exactly the same piano part. In other words, the strings are optional. Using the second keyboard gives pianists the chance to experience ensemble playing, a skill they’ll need in order to earn a living later in life. The fundamental piece is the solo piano version, the video that leads this article.

I seem to have found “my place,” writing pieces and arrangements for piano that fit the “easy intermediate” difficulty level. I’m quite happy to have found “my place.” It’s my happy place! Those pieces are selling!