Updated: “For the People of Ukraine”

I usually have several tunes going in various stages of development, and back in early 2022 I was working on a classical/orchestral piece that had a lot of church choir-type vocals in it. As this composition progressed, I was at the same time watching developments around Ukraine hoping that Vladimir Putin would refrain from sending his military across the border (again - they illegally annexed the Crimeran Penninsula in 2014) into the Donbas and Luhansk.

When the war broke out as I was completing this composition, I decided to dedicate it to the people of Ukraine who have proved valiant and effective in resisting the invasion of their country by the Russians.

I released a version of it in March, but having listened to it for a few months, I felt it was worthy of a little tweaking in the arrangement and a remix. So I am turning loose a new version now. I recommend listening to it with your eyes closed, but have made a version accompanied by some free photos for those that can’t simply rest their eyes for the 8 minutes it takes to hear the music (hello, Instagrammers).

Here’s the audio-visual version:

Listen to the audio file:

Updated: “Last Light”

“Last Light” was one of the first orchestral compositions I did back in 2014 when I first really started acquiring some sample libraries that would allow me to compose with the sounds of classical orchestral instruments like members of the violin family as well as brass and woodwind instruments.

I’ve learned a lot since then, and recently I re-mixed “Last Light” with the excellent libraries from Orchestral Tools. As with the original version I did in 2014, I’ve used “Last Light” as the music to accompany a series of time-lapse sequences I photographed towards Mt. Meeker and Long’s Peak from a location near the town of Lyons, Colorado.

You can find more of my music here: https://markjsmusic.com. And photography here: https://galleries.intsysint.com.

Cecropia Moths 2022

The Cecropia Moth, Hyalophora cecropia, is a member of the so-called “silk moth” family that includes the largest moths in the world.

Follow along in my blog as I attempt to raise a new generation of these beautiful moths.

Sight & Sound

The videos below put it all together - imagery and music.  I think the combination can be more powerful than either medium on its own. Enjoy these two audio-visual combos.

Sky Poem

"Sky Poem" is an orchestral piece of music that I wrote to celebrate the sky and the mountains.  The imagery is put together from a series of time-lapse photos I shot from the same location near the little town of Lyons, Colorado.

The music is massive and majestic with big strings - and big horns - just like the mountain goats that occasionally come down the slopes to drink from the streams in my neighborhood!

Amagi-san Doro

"Amagi-san Doro" is music I composed as a reminiscence of the many wonderful and inspiring walks I took in the mountains between the coastal town of Kawazu and the town of Shuzenji, both on the Izu Penninsula of Japan.  The imagery comes from photos I took on these hikes in the mountains.  To see many more photos from this beautiful area, visit my photo galleries.

"Amagi-san Doro" is written 天城山道路 in Japanese. Meaning "Amagi Mountain Road". "Amagi" is a place name made up of the characters for "sky" and "castle".

The tune is peaceful, contemplative, and evocative of the sounds made by two traditional Japanese instruments: the koto, a plucked instrument resembling a zither or harp, and the shakuhachi, a wooden flute.

Or - feed your ears and rest your eyes

Listen to excerpts from the original compositions I have released here.