--Listen with headphones--

"Meditation" is an art piece written to allow listeners, or the performer, to meditate. Centered around an ostinato to represent the self, the piece explores feelings of growth and decay, otherworldliness, and almost complete silence. Meditation could also be described as a marimba etude due to the sheer amount of concentration required by the soloist in order to make an effective performance, but I more so like to think of it as a study of one's self. A good chunk of the piece is dedicated to improvisation, so most factors are to be uniquely determined by the performer.  

The piece is divided into three sections: 
Your racing mind (0:00​)
The journey of your being (4:09​)
Achieving temporary inner peace (11:10​)
CODA: Waking up (12:35​)

"Your racing mind" is the beginning of the piece. Developed completely from the ostinato, variations propel the journey by giving it natural energy (such as chords yearning to resolve and increasing dynamics). This section represents the beginning of when you meditate, when your thoughts are scattered and don't seem to follow any sort of reason. 

"The journey of your being" is supposed to represent when your thoughts finally take shape. This section utilizes electronics; more specifically a looping pedal. Inspired by the raised awareness of your sense of hearing when you meditate, the performer adds different motifs on top of each other to create a soundscape, all while the ostinato continues in the background. This is possible to perform in one run, without recording anything beforehand. 

"Achieving temporary inner peace" begins after the second section dies down, leaving the ostinato suspended in space. Very quietly, the first, and only, melody appears in the low range of the marimba. This is when you're completely calm, and perhaps maybe have learned something about yourself, or the world around you. The melody finishes and all is calm. However, like a distant satellite, a nagging tone begins to wake you up. For the first time in the piece the ostinato leaves, and the dissonant alarm grows in intensity before the piece ends abruptly. This section is inspired by the shock of your surroundings after you wake up from your meditative journey.

Performer: Ian T. Jones

Performed graciously at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with recording help from Joshua Weitz, and logistics help from Drs. Eric Willie and Mark Engebretson.

Ian T. Jones - Meditation For Solo Marimba And Electronics

Excursion Into Philosophy is a piece I wrote based off the genius work 
by Edward Hopper created in 1959. It tells the short story of a lost man who begins to question everything. 
Josephine Hopper, Edward Hopper's wife, explained that "the open book is Plato, re-read too late," which explains the man's fascination with the world around him. A part of the painting that always intrigued me is how the man's foot is barely stepping into the light in front of him, almost like he is "dipping a toe" into philosophy. I believe this aspect of the painting symbolizes Edward Hopper's fascination with light at the time, with many other works, including Morning Sun (1952) and Second Story Sunlight (1960), experimenting with different techniques. Hopper, like the man in the painting, is interested in the light, and wants to know how it works.
In the music, however, a story follows:
The man awakes to the crack of dawn after having a dreadful night's rest. He looks over at the mistress he was with last night and feels shame, and regret. To get his mind off of his actions, he picks up a book by an author he hasn't read in too long: Plato. The writings inside mess with his mind, causing him to question everything he sees, even something as simple as light. His thoughts become madness, and his madness becomes unbearable, until he is forced to 
put down the book. Defeated, he looks at the light, and decides to turn his life around. He "steps into the light," and is filled with warmth with the thought of his new life.
Winner of the 2018-2019 GSYO Young Composers Competition,