This Cruel Moon

John Mackey

Subtitle: Adapted from Immortal Thread So Weak, from Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band

General Info

Year: 2014 / 2017
Duration: c. 6:30
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Osti Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum (large)
Marimba I-II
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

This is an adaptation of Immortal thread, so weak, the middle movement of Wine-Dark Sea. John Mackey had received requests from band directors wanting to perform the middle movement of the symphony separately and without harp. The piece is appropriate for advanced middle school and developing high school ensembles, but also offers artistic value to more advanced performers.

- Program Note from Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12

This movement is the song of the beautiful and immortal nymph Kalypso, who finds Odysseus near death, washed up on the shore of the island where she lives all alone. She nurses him back to health, and sings as she moves back and forth with a golden shuttle at her loom. Odysseus shares her bed; seven years pass. The tapestry she began when she nursed him becomes a record of their love.

But one day Odysseus remembers his home. He tells Kalypso he wants to leave her, to return to his wife and son. He scoffs at all she has given him. Kalypso is heartbroken.

And yet, that night, Kalypso again paces at her loom. She unravels her tapestry and weaves it into a sail for Odysseus. In the morning, she shows Odysseus a raft, equipped with the sail she has made and stocked with bread and wine, and calls up a gentle and steady wind to carry him home. Shattered, she watches him go; he does not look back.

- Program Note from publisher

Media

Audio: Reference recording. University of Texas Wind Ensemble (Jerry Junkin, conductor)
Audio flash drive: Ocean Springs (Miss.) High School Wind Symphony (Mohamad Schuman, conductor) – 2020

State Ratings

Texas: IV. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Vista Murrieta (Calif.) High School Wind Ensemble II (Edmundson, conductor) - 16 May 2023
Arizona State University (Tempe) University Wind Symphony (Jamal Duncan, conductor) - 25 April 2023
Cuesta Wind Ensemble (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) (Jennifer Martin, conductor) – 18 March 2023
West Valley High School (Yakima, Wash.) Wind Ensemble (Kirk Knight, conductor) - 8 March 2023
University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Symphonic Band (Lauren Visel, conductor) -- 28 February 2023
University of Central Florida (Orlando) University Band (R. Scott Mullen, conductor) - 19 February 2023
University of South Florida (Tampa) Concert Band (Devin Dedon, conductor) - 16 February 2023
University of Georgia (Athens) Honor Symphonic Band (Jake Wallace, conductor) - 22 January 2023
Cleveland State University (Ohio) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Gary Hill, conductor) – 20 November 2022
United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Jason K. Fettig, conductor) - 16 June 2022
Bemidji (Minn.) State University Symphonic Band (Ryan Webber, conductor) - 19 April 2022
Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Wind Ensemble (T.j. Anderson, conductor) - 3 October 2021
University of Missouri (Columbia) Wind Ensemble (Joshua R. Boyer, conductor) - 17 March 2021
Mukwonago (Wisc.) High School Wind Ensemble (Emma Angoli, conductor) – 15 March 2021
University of Findlay (Ohio) Wind Ensemble (Wes King, conductor) - 7 March 2021
Florida State University (Tallahassee) Concert Band (Victoria Russo, conductor) - 16 November 2020
Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) Symphonic Band (Cliff Croomes, conductor) – 10 March 2020
Ocean Springs (Miss.) High School Wind Symphony (Kevin Sedatole, conductor) - 4 March 2020 (86th Annual ABA National Convention)
Dallas (Tex.) Winds (Jerry Junkin, conductor) – 11 April 2017 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Let Me Be Frank with You (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Night on Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Ambrose) (2013/2021)
Sheltering Sky (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Dunnigan) (2012/2020)
Strange Humors (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
This Cruel Moon (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Dunnigan) (2017/2020)

All Wind Works

Antique Violences (2017)
Asphalt Cocktail (2009)
Aurora Awakes (2009)
Clocking (2007)
Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble (2007)
Damn (1998)
A deep reverberation fills with stars (2022)
Divine Mischief (2022)
Drum Music: Concerto for Percussion (2011)
Fanfare for Full Fathom Five (2015)
Foundry (2011)
The Frozen Cathedral (2012)
Harvest: Concerto for Trombone (2009)
High Wire (2012)
Hymn to a Blue Hour (2010)
Hymn to a Blue Hour (arr. Wallace) (2010/2021)
Kingfishers Catch Fire (2007)
Let Me Be Frank with You (2020/2021)
Let Me Be Frank with You (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Lightning Field (2015)
Liminal (2016)
Mom Song
The Night Garden (2017)
Night on Fire. See: The Soul Has Many Motions
Places we can no longer go (2018)
(redacted) (2013)
Redline Tango (2004)
The Rumor of a Secret King (2017/2018)
The Rumor of a Secret King (arr. Blegen) (2017/2018/2020)
Sacred Spaces (2019)
Sasparilla (2005)
Sheltering Sky (2012)
Sheltering Sky (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Dunnigan) (2012/2020)
Snarl (2018)
Some treasures are heavy with human tears (2021)
Songs from the End of the World (2015)
The Soul Has Many Motions (2013)
- Night on Fire (2013)
- Night on Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Ambrose) (2013/2021)
Strange Humors (2006)
Strange Humors (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
Strange Humors (saxophone ensemble) (2006/2021)
This Cruel Moon (2014/2017)
This Cruel Moon (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
Turbine (2006)
Turning (2007)
Undertow (2008)
Until the Scars (2014/2019)
Venomous Devices (2023)
Wine-Dark Sea (2014)
Xerxes (2010)

Resources

Pease, Andy. "This Cruel Moon by John Mackey." Wind Band Literature, 6 Jun 2018. Web. Accessed 6 Jun 2018
Perusal score
Spurlin, Corey. "This Cruel Moon." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 480-487. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.