"The Courage of Despair Orchestral" is a symphonic arrangement of the piano solo that was part of Paul Long's excellent 2023 debut album, The Spectrum of Life. I find the solo piano version to be deeply moving, but this symphonic work goes right to the heart. Throughout the four-minute piece, the music expresses tragedy and unbearable sadness as well as strength and determination, and is truly an inspiring tribute to the human spirit. Subtitled "A Tribute to the People of Ukraine," the piece was a finalist in the prestigious international FMC - Film Music Contest in the Symphonic Orchestral Music category. Paul Long explains how the music was conceived:

"Composed with a broken heart at the beginning of the war in Ukraine as I watched families desperately fleeing their homeland. Inspired by the courage of those that stayed behind to fight to preserve Ukraine's freedom and by the uplifting spirit of humanity the Ukrainians possess.

"In most of my compositions in the melody I am telling a story with each note being a word or syllable. In this composition I keep the words being expressed as an unknown because I do not feel this is my song. It belongs to the people of Ukraine and the story should be told by a Ukrainian."

"The Courage of Despair Orchestral" is an amazing piece of music and I highly recommend it. It is available digitally from Amazon, Apple Music/iTunes and streaming sites including Spotify.