Shiner was written for an unlikely cast of characters: trombone, harp, viola, and marimba. It is about finding beauty in unexpected places.
The San Diego Story
“For blending four ostensibly mismatched instruments, harp, trombone, viola, and marimba, into a sumptuous quartet filled with luminous clouds of sustained chords and lyrical themes bubbling up to the surface, Sarah Kirkland Snider’s “Shiner” deserves a trophy. Or two."
The Lawrentian
In “Shiner,” the trombone lines by Albright were overwhelmingly beautiful...this was accompanied by viola, marimba and harp—an odd and unexpected group of instruments. But the sounds of this unlikely group blended together in an extremely fitting way. Often, the harp and marimba held a rhythm, while the viola and trombone played a sonorous melody back and forth."
Carnyx & Co.
"Shiner was my first encounter with Ms. Snider’s music, and this piece is a little gem – effectively a one movement trombone concerto for marimba, viola, harp and trombone…a continually shifting, shimmering texture that weaves through modal relationships, sometimes quite surprising in their juxtaposition, always full of light and shade, whilst the trombone carries the principal melodic lines, evading any notion of Romantic virtuosity, but singing the line and then commenting upon the material…Very sympathetically written for the instrument, this is a most rewarding addition to the solo & chamber repertoire…The depth of texture is astonishing given the tiny forces involved – [the] viola seemed to encapsulate an entire string section, whilst the harp and marimba interlocked to create all necessary rhythmic & harmonic colours to render the piece completely satisfying.”
The Herald Scotland
“Intimacy, in fact, was the hallmark of the concert…[for example] the luminous Romanticism of Sarah Kirkland Snider’s 'Shiner', in which [Colin] Currie’s delectable marimba playing was garlanded by the soft colours of harp, viola and trombone, with John Kenny’s tenor trombone playing showing the instrument at its most tender, lyrical and avuncular.”
New Haven Independent
“[The] works of Sarah Kirkland Snider could be described as indeterminately elegiac, or just plain lovely.”
