Matt Dehnel Music

Because You Know was composed for the 2016-2017 Roseville Area High School (RAHS) Symphonic Band. A unique quality of the RAHS Band Program is the fact that the top band is made up almost entirely of seniors. This means that, when they take the stage for the final concert of the year, most of the band knows they are doing so for the last time. This piece is a musical depiction of that moment, and the emotions that inevitably follow. However, as I was writing, I found I wanted to connect the soul of this music to more people and more situations. The title is a sentence fragment intended to apply to any situation where two (or more) people find themselves connected in some intentional or unintentional way.

Eyes Turned Skyward, quite simply, is about flight. I have always been fascinated with flight, from screaming fighter jets to the stunningly silent glide of the snowy owl. The music captures the invigorating experience of a ride in a plane and the awe-inspiring sight of a bird maneuvering through the air. And, for a peaceful moment in the middle, the music depicts the serene space above the clouds—when we have flown high enough to be removed from everything down below.

Mirus (Latin for “wonderful, astonishing, extraordinary”) is my attempt to musically express sheer awe and wonder. There are three particular awe-inspiring things weaved together in the work: the wonder of space and the stars, the wonder of humanity and the human spirit, and the wonder of earthly beauty.

Sleep, Little Child is a lullabye. The melody is an original tune I sang to my daughters when they were infants. Shortly thereafter, I wrote this concert band piece using that melody. The softer moments capture the feel of a lullabye while the stronger moments capture the depth and power of love a father feels for his child.