Program Notes:
Disquiet began life as melodic fragments I would hum to myself on the subway while living in New York in the year 2000. In 2004-2005 those fragments evolved into my first piece for orchestra, written while I was a graduate student at Yale. In 2012, I revised and expanded the piece. The creative impetus for this music was, to speak broadly, the agitation of unspoken words, particularly when those words simmer and writhe beneath a self-imposed calm. In addition to its dramatic declarations, the music has moments of tenderness and whimsy; at one point even something of a drinking song makes its presence known. Ultimately, though, the piece is a meditation on the idea that even the most agitated restlessness can engender a certain serenity and gratitude.
The piece is about 14 minutes in one movement. Disquiet is dedicated with love to my husband, Steven.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"[Strictly] from the evidence presented here...she's a potentially significant voice on the American music landscape. The idea of the piece is to explore the inner agitation beneath self-imposed composure — a promising prescription for harmonic layering that's successfully realized in any number of ways. Disquiet is framed by long-held string chords with pregnant two- and three-note motifs that germinate into events that consistently refuse to touch base with the usual emotional colors. Even a four-note trombone motif that might normally sound foreboding instead conveyed apprehension; it was followed by a shower of potentially ecstatic string pizzicato effects that instead conveyed a nuanced dose of anxiety."
Town Topics
“…lush, with many orchestral colors, and despite its title, [it begins] peacefully with almost imperceptible violins…Ms. Snider offered some unusual combinations of instruments in this piece… [which was] very audience-friendly because of its sonorities and the many different colors in the texture. ”
Sequenza 21
"[Snider is] a formidable composer…Rather than depicting “disquiet” primarily via its pitch or rhythmic language, creating abundant dissonances or angularity, Snider takes another approach: uneasiness is primarily delineated by the work’s formal design. Thus, one may at first be surprised to hear its often lush harmonies and strong melodic thrust. But as Disquiet unfolds, a labyrinth of disparate gestures and contrasting sections, often supplied in quick succession, imparts the title’s requisite restive sensibility."
