Until the Scars (2019) John Mackey

"Until the Scars" is an adaptation of the first movement of "Wine-Dark Sea: Symphony for Band," a work based on the ancient story of "The Odyssey" by Homer.

After ten years of bloody siege, the Trojan War was won because of Odysseus' gambit: A horse full of soldiers, disguised as an offering. The people of Troy took it in as a trophy, and were slaughtered. Odysseus gave the Greeks victory, and they left the alien shores for home. But Odysseus' journey would take as long as the war itself. Homer called the ocean on which Odysseus sailed a wine-dark sea, and for the Greek king it was as murky and disorienting as its name; he would not find his way across it without first losing himself. In this section of the story, Odysseus, having filled his ship with the spoils of war, leaves for hom, but he carried another, more dangerous, cargo: Pride. This movement opens with his triumphal march, and continues as he and his crew maraud through every port of call on their way home.