This arrangement of mine is a musical reflections on the hymn tune, Resignation, a melody of anonymous authorship from William Walker’s “Southern Harmony, and Musical Companion” (1835).
The second “verse” of the arrangement is a minor key treatment of the melody. It returns to a more upbeat character on the “third” verse, and an even more positive statement on the “fourth” verse.
I don’t have videos of me playing a lot of these solo piano arrangements. I recorded them before I got into the practice of making videos. When there’s no video, I’m using a score synchronized with my audio recording.
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 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!
My mother, Jane Jones, with 4 year old me in Biloxi, Mississippi.
In my job as music director at Lakewood UCC (my favorite church job of all time, without exaggeration!) the piano pieces I’ll be doing Sunday, Mother’s Day, were all favorites of my mom’s. Here’s the list, with YouTube links. Only the first link is me; the rest are my favorite YouTube versions of the pieces.
Here’s the list of pieces Hilton played on Easter Sunday this year.
Gathering Music
The Cherry Tree — John Ireland Sonata “Pathetique” Op. 13 – II. Adagio cantabile — Ludwig Beethoven Meditation (from “Thaïs”) — Jules Massenet First Arabesque — Claude Debussy Air with Variations (from “Suite F major HWV 430”) –George Frideric Handel Ashokan Farewell — Jay Unger May It Be — Enya, Nicky Ryan, Roma Ryan In Dreams — Fran Walsh, Howard Shore
Service
Prelude:Feuilles Volantes 1 — Henri Duparc
Offertory: Come Sunday — Duke Ellington Prelude II — George Gershwin
Communion: What a Wonderful World — George Weiss, Bob Thiele Sonata 16 C Major K545, II — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart You Raise Me Up — Rolf Løvland, Brendan Graham
Postlude:Hallelujah Chorus (from “The Messiah”) — George Frideric Handel
Lakewood United Church of Christ 