This is one of my transcriptions of one of my own choral pieces. You can hear the original choral version at https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/as-a-doe-longs. Interesting how one’s feelings about what’s the “right” tempo change over the years. You’ll notice I currently like a MUCH more leisurely tempo. When I was a kid, I thought Albert Schweitzer’s J.S.Bach tempos were woefully far too slow. Now, at 80, I understand: as the future gets shorter and shorter, one wishes to savor each note.
#piano
#pianomusic
Author: Hilton Kean Jones
Composer and performer, retired college music professor, lyricist.
Follow Me! (solo piano)
This is another of my transcriptions for solo piano of a choral piece of mine, Follow Me!. You can listen to the original choral piece at https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/follow-me-satb-with-edit.
Have This Love (solo piano)
This is my own solo piano transcription of my choral piece, Have This Love. You can hear the original choral version at https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/have-this-love. I’m in the process of making keyboard (either solo piano or pipe organ) transcriptions of some of my choral/vocal and solo instrumental pieces. No particular reason other than I enjoy playing them! LOL
Time Will Tell
This pice, Time Will Tell, is the first movement of a new collection of pieces, entitled Hourglass Pieces. All the movements are about time. Sheet music for this movement, “Time Will Tell,” will be available at sheetmusicdirect (https://www.sheetmusicdirect.com/Search.aspx?query=hilton%20kean%20jones) and sheetmusicplus (https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/arrangeme/479/hilton-kean-jones/)
#piano #music #pianomusic #asmr
Farewell to Old Ireland (an immigrant’s lament)
Learned a new tune, the harmonization, form, arrangement, and a drastic rewrite of the melody in the middle section of which are all mine, but it’s nevertheless a traditional Irish song about an immigrant who leaves his home for liberty in America. I tried to end the final word, “liberty,” with a musical question mark, or at least mixed emotion, or uncertainty.
This tune is sometimes titled The Green Fields of Amerikay (with that spelling). I chose to use the first phrase of the lyrics and add the explanatory subtitle.
Safe Harbor
We wrote this in January after you-know-who, you-know-what. I think Lucy’s point in her lyrics is the only answer: rest in the safe harbor of our trusted friendships. We gotta stick together! And resist!
Focus, focus, focus…
I’ve completely deleted my Facebook account (both the personal and the professional pages).
I’ve also deleted my Prime account at Amazon.
I haven’t decided yet about Instagram.
I’d already deleted my Twitter account long ago.
Youtube, Soundcloud, and here will be where I share my music to listen to.
My main online focus will continue to be publishing sheet music.
I’ll just spend my time making music and trying to get back into reading books again instead of doom scrolling endlessly through social media posts.
I’m just so appalled by the owners of Amazon and Facebook (Instagram) kowtowing to Trump.
We don’t have to play their game.
HKJ Pipe Organ Playlist
I’m in the process of tidying up my social media. I’ve written pieces I’ve even forgotten I’ve written, let alone posted anywhere.
I’ve also done some analysis of who buys what of my sheet music. Pianists seem to mainly buy my arrangements of songs, mainly folk songs. Organists mainly buy my original stuff! I would have guessed it would have been exactly the opposite.
Trying to build on what I’ve learned from my sales stats, I’m try to assemble all the pieces of mine on YouTube that use pipe organ (solo organ pieces and pieces for solo melody instrument and organ). Another thing I would have never guessed is the (free!) promotional power videos have on sheet music sales. Far more than purely audio sites.
Here’s a link to a playlist of videos of pieces of mine that use pipe organ: Organ Playlist
I’ll continue to add to that list as I find pieces I’ve forgotten, so if you like organ music you might check back from time to time.
A Christmas Concert
On Christmas Eve at my church job, I play an extended 30+ minute prelude. These are the pieces I’ll be playing: https://soundcloud.com/hilton-kean-jones/sets/a-christmas-concert-ive-piano. This is in an “album” order (best ones first), but at church, I’ll do it in exactly reverse order (best ones last since it’s an extended prelude and folks are pretty rowdy early on). That URL will be in the Xmas Eve Bulletin so if people want to hear the pieces again later, they can. These are all self-published arrangements of mine available at sheetmusicdirect and sheetmusicplus. This album cover was done by Nathan Jones, my son, for an earlier CDR release; the recordings linked to here are all new and I think I’ve done a better job of performing them and mixing them than the old CDR album.
#piano
#music
#christmas
Curoo, Curoo (Carol of the Birds) for pipe organ
I originally arranged this for trumpet and organ, then a friend asked for a cello and piano version. But, most of my sales are for solo piano or solo pipe organ music, so finally figured out how to keep the original counterpoint and do it for one person playing a pipe organ.
#pipeorgan
#organ
#christmasmusic
#carols