From the Depths We Rise
From the Depths We Rise, a composition for wind ensemble by Danny Mitchell
FROM THE DEPTHS WE RISE is now available for purchase in my online store! The piece is available as PDF files for immediate download, or as a printed physical set to be shipped. Additional conductor scores are also available for purchase.
ABOUT THE PIECE:
In 2021, I was commissioned by my dear friend Scott Teeple and a consortium of University of Wisconsin-system schools to compose a piece of music that reflected the hardship we experienced during the pandemic of 2020 and beyond. The composition was finished early in 2022 and received its world premiere at the CBDNA North Central Division Conference in Madison, WI (under the direction of Teeple). Below you will find score samples, program notes, as well as downloadable audio of the recording from the premiere.
If you’d like more information about the piece, or any of my other compositions for wind band, please use this contact form to get in touch!
PROGRAM NOTE:
Dedicated to you, the listener, for your unique perseverance.
The impetus for this piece came when my dear friend and profound musician Scott Teeple asked me to compose a lyrical work that reflected the hardship we experienced during the pandemic of 2020 and beyond. As I wrote, some heavy questions consumed me. How can we process this chapter in the story of humankind? How can we heal the grieving families, how can we comfort the sick, how can we be present for the isolated? How can we honor the bravest among us who continue to show up and do their essential work? And how do I, a musician, contribute meaningfully to a world that needs doctors, nurses, educators, scientists, big thinkers, and boundary pushers? I found myself mournful for the lives lost, exhausted for the first responders and healthcare workers, and broken over the division in our country. And yet I was full of awe at the redemption stories, the unconventional heroes, and the miracle minds of the scientists and professionals who wasted no time guiding us out of the trench we found ourselves in. What a complicated mixture of dark and light. So much deep sadness and yet so much to be hopeful for.
FROM THE DEPTHS WE RISE was composed to place an artistic form around this profound emotional chaos we’ve all experienced, and to pay homage to the amazing resilience of the human spirit. The main theme softly and sweetly cries out, melancholy at first, then reaches upward, longing for connection. It sits atop a harmony riddled with dissonance and shifting tonalities, a musical mirror reflecting the “new” that is anything but normal. Anchored deep in the key of Eb Major - a warm, homey, humble yet brave key - the roots are never compromised. Like an elder tree emerging from a long and battering winter, it greens again, standing this season a little taller than last. As the piece develops, its fortitude begins to show. And just as our souls have been armed with surprising strength, this music grows in ensemble, dynamic, and range until it has overcome its highest peak. Then, in a final moment of reflection, the main harmonic structure is repeated, but with the melody absent. Meant to be a musical “moment of silence” for those no longer with us, it doubles as a deep breath reset to prepare us to continue forward, whatever may lie ahead.
