Mackey: This Cruel Moon 

I’m so lucky I got to be there to hear him explain this song! It’s really about The Odyssey of Homer, when Calypso got sent down to live her immortal life forever alone. This song is about a deep, overwhelming loneliness. For eternity. Think about that when you listen to this song, I guarantee you will tear up!

The course of true love never did run smooth.

"you will never be as good as John Mackey"

The beginning part makes me cry every time the euphonium part is so beautiful I’m so glad I get to play that

John Mackey, I just have such an adoration for your pieces of musical literature. You understand, so clearly how to weave together the musical properties of multiple instruments at staggered intervals, to the point in which it feels like you're whisked away into a pitch black sky, only for the darkness to be illuminated by thousands of millions of stars. And amongst those small, dim lights, is nothing more than a disproportionately ginormous mass; the moon. Such a beautiful lunar disc that becomes illuminated by the rising sun behind the earth, it's glorious rays shimmering past; causing the moon to burst into a vibrant pigment of white. However, as it does so, the Earth begins to shake as the ocean responds with abstract and vicious waves. They tear at the land, shredding any nearby rock formation with ease. And as the moon settles itself into a full bloom, the water begins to calm. Peace restores to the land as the sky is now illuminated calmly by that settling ball and it's smaller, yet ever so present allies. But even such a beautiful view cannot undo what its destruction has already caused. This cruel moon, however so beautiful, is only just one instrument of varying destruction and creation. It has no cognitive thoughts, no sentience. Just the ability to change however the universe wished it to change. Such beauty comes with a cost; a cost the world must bear.

I had no idea dissonance could be so beautiful, especially dissonance that is frowned upon.

My high school band played the second ever performance of this piece. It was both an honor and a pleasure.

I love this piece. I love how Mackey rendered Wine Dark Sea into playable pieces lol, but it’s so beautiful. When he watched our live stream of us performing WDS live, he cried. It’s always been such a touching piece for me. I love your work John!!

I played this piece before. It is such a beautiful piece.

This song reminds me of everyone I've ever lost to time. It's so painful to listen but it feels like this song is the only thing that understands me

I love this piece so much. As a clarinet player in a wind ensemble, I love playing this piece. Your music gives me goosebumps!! Thank you for your amazing work!!!

Lol this starts on the same note as October

There's a storm right now and it thundered right around 4:30. It was awesome.

This piece of music brings so many different emotions out of me. Beautiful.

Some friends of mine played this in their first concert post-lockdown, and I've loved it ever since.

This euphonium and horn part is the truth! I hope I get to play this someday!

I'm am very grateful to have been able to have recently worked on this amazing piece with John Mackey and I love it.

This song gives me all kinds of emotions. It’s so beautiful. 3:00 is where it gets me

my band sophomore year got to be one of the first bands to play this piece so our name is on the score and this piece means more and more to me every time I listen

Played this piece once as Bass Clarinet 1st chair 2020 but covid killed our UIL. Never got the chance to perform this beautiful piece.

i love how this song feels so sustained, yet so precise

playing this for my spring concert, first clarinet I love everything

The devastating release at 5:03 after building for so long… ughhh it hurts so good

This is one of the best pieces of music ever written honestly. :' )

My college's symphonic band played this earlier tonight and I had to go listen to it again. Thank you so much for posting this score/video and for creating it in the first place.

Warm and beautiful music tinged with such deep sadness.

I can see the cruel moon.

Oboist here. This is true art. Thank you, Mr. Mackey.

My marching band is playing this for our Second movement in our show next year!

I've this piece for an all region band and for a music camp and it is by far my favorite piece that I've ever played.

I almost cried toward the end. Well done.

this is one of my favorite pieces of all time

we’re playing this for my high school wind ensemble, it’s SO tranquil and peaceful and gorgeous I’m so glad we’re playing it

Thank you for your great music Mackey.

Beautiful piece .one of the most beautiful pieces I’ve ever heard in my life

4:20-5:10 always gives me chills

This piece has really grown on me. There are moments where it reminds me of the Mass from La Fiesta Mexicana. Job well done Mr. Mackey!

I just played this for an honor band concert. It was truly moving and beautiful. Just listening to it makes me cry.

Beautiful!

Wow, I feel completely alone but sharing a deep connection w the human condition and creative spirit.

Perfectly captures how something as beautiful and joyful as love can somehow tear you apart in your solitude

This song is so beautiful omg 😍♥️🌙 I recently played it for my fall band concert on second Clarinet 😍

This was a chop killer at honor band

Absolutely beautiful….

Truly Beautiful!

What a nice piece of music!

Gosh, I could sit and cry to this piece all day. So hauntingly beautiful.

I have a new favorite. His name is John Mackey.

And the night before my grad. Here I am, to reminisce.

I love this piece!

Quite a ravishing and extraordinary piece.

I love this piece sm. we played it in the wind ensemble my freshman year, but I wasn't selected so I got to listen to my band play it during a festival and it sounded so pretty. the emotion u feel when listening to it is astonishing. I get chills every time

This is truly beautiful. I would love to conduct this with my future ensembles one day.

My honor band at band camp was the first band to perform this piece in our state.

Also respect to all Bass Clarinet player's who had to play the last 14 measures i believe holding out 1 note with just one breath and decrescendo while keeping the note steady.🤧🤧

I love listening to this song but I truly miss being able to sit in the middle of it. - High school clarinet player (who had one of the beautiful clarinet solos 😭)

Have to learn this song in a week for all state band

can we talk about that tenor sax solo at 2:56 and all the way until 3:28 was just pure beauty! It literally gave me many tears rolling down my face. I really wanna do this piece right now but i don't think my director would because the band im currently in is called concert band and its sheet music level is based on grade 3-3.5 level music but if i audition for my high school wind symphony i badly wanna do this piece, because this piece has been my favorite of yours, but i think this is my #1 favorite piece by you. #2 and 3 are lightning field and until the scars. i've done lightning field for my 9th grade which was fun as heck!!! anways john mackey you're amazing because your music got me into loving band!!

Perfect

thank you

I’m playing this in the LSU symphonic band in a few days

I keep a list of living composers whose work I admire, because I think that acoustic music should not be limited to music of the past. John Mackey’s position on this list changes depending on how much I enjoy a piece of his. After hearing this, Mackey is back up at number 3.

HBD! ♥ Daniela Magálová (Daniela Alexandra Magal) ( 31. srpna 1966♥ SEMPER FIDELIS #QUA PATET ORBIS #JE MAINTAN DRAI ! ♫♪ great ♫♪♫♪♫♪☺ BRAVISSIMO @/bisbis 🎶🎵🎼 great music! a well tuned ensemble that sounds like an organ ! Fabulous banding! Compliments! #SEMPER FI #QPO #JMD🎵🎼🎼🎶🎵🥁🎺👌👌🙏🎺

An honorable discharge of moonlit breeze as cool as camphor on chafed lips..

this sounds sort of like Movement 2 of Wine Dark Sea

Gonna be fun

Playing this for mpa 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

Is someone crying around the 5:10 mark in the recording?

If this reminds anybody of Majora's Mask please say so

University of Wyoming symphonic band will be playing this tomorrow 3/22/21

Who would've thought of all things an scp tale would lead me here. The song and the story give off a similiar vibe, not gonna lie

my school is preforming this (i’m third clarinet) and my band director is probably gonna cut me out of the song cause were too loud but this is absolutely beautiful and i️ don’t want to miss preforming it..

The dark moon and its light.

Anybody else notice the main motif is john cena?

Can we talk about how the marimba part just exista

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Which band was it that was gonna perform this at Midwest?

This is literally the same as the 2nd movement of Wine Dark Sea

Couchmen 2018

美しい、残酷なほどに。

5:03 5:06 😤👏🏻👏🏻

Playing 2nd Clarinet at festival - wish me luck

Is this from wine-dark sea?

The trumpets at 4:30 give me chills every time

Is there a clarinet solo?

jesus christ that release...4:48

Darn I thought u were the singer for Omen

4:49 Climax

for some reason my sister (a horn player) hated this song, and I don't know why. this may possibly be my favorite piece my Mackey, but them I'm also a flute player lol and the flute part has some ridiculously beautiful parts. idk. horn players, is your part boring? lol

Idk y this is in my recommended but we are playing this song at my school and I need to learn and memorize it cause our concert is in 2and a half weeks and I know like barely any of it so yeah. I play marimba 1.

second

This should be renamed to a funeral for a king.

3 dislikes?? Damn feminists!