Avant Garde

Quartetto di Cremona with Nolan Pearson, piano
Recorded live at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre
May 03, 2013 at the Intimacy of Creativity Festival.


The Devil's Nine Questions - Piano Quintet

acoustic

I made you a mixtape

The Devil's Nine Questions: Mvt 3 - Vulnerable

The Devil's Nine Questions: Mvt 2 - Jagged

The Devil's Nine Questions: Mvt 1 - Viscous

Commissioned by the Aeolus String Quartet
Composed by Steven Snowden

From the Aeolus Quartet's 2012 album *Many-Sided Music*
Digital release date: March 06, 2012


Program Notes:
Appalachian Polaroids was initially inspired by the controversial portrait photography of Shelby Lee Adams (b. 1950). Though sometimes criticized for perpetuating the hillbilly stereotype of rural Appalachia, I feel that his photographs often illuminate the quiet resilience of these remote mountain communities. As a native of the Ozark Mountain countryside, I have always felt a strong connection with my neighbors to the East. In Appalachian Polaroids, I chose to create my own musical portrait of the unique mix of hardship and joy that comes with living an isolated rural life. 

This piece begins with a 1976 field recording of Sheila Kay Adams (no relation to Shelby Lee) singing the popular folk song Black is the Color in Asheville, North Carolina. The quartet quietly enters as an integrated component of the recording, playing with the wood of their bows to create a slightly noisy effect, similar to the tape hiss present in the old equipment used to record Sheila's stunning voice. Their sound gradually becomes more brilliant until the group finally emerges with crowing figures reminiscent of Appalachian fiddle playing. However, they also carry with them remnants of Sheila's own unique singing style. These attributes, (which include sliding/scooping to and from certain pitches and a subtle yodeling effect at the ends of phrases) expand as the piece progresses and eventually exert their influence on large-scale aspects of melody, rhythm and even form.


Appalachian Polaroids

Recorded by Friction Quartet in 2015.

Inspired by two prison work songs recorded at Angola State Prison in the 1940’s by John and Alan Lomax titled Rosie and Take This Hammer.

Take This Hammer - Friction Quartet

Alarm Will Sound Performs
*For So Long It's Not True*
by Steven Snowden
Recorded live on 07-16-2011 at the Missouri Theatre 

Program Notes:
	My earliest memories of music come from the countless hours I spent on the construction site with my father.Just before beginning our day of hanging ducting or wiring thermostats, he would often plug in his ragged old boom box and set the dial to the local classic rock station.Amidst a backdrop of skill saws, nail guns and power drills, the air was saturated with the songs of bands that I eventually grew to love like Led Zeppelin, Lynard Skynard and Pink Floyd.

I eventually came to know every subtle nuance of the recordings that came blaring through that radio.However, because of frequent interruptions from construction noise and spotty reception, I could often only remember short segments of them for the first couple of years.Because this was my only consistent exposure to music at the time, I would often get these fragments stuck in my head with no idea of what came before or after them.Continuously looping through my mind, these bits and pieces would begin to lose all context and eventually mutate into something that hardly resembled what I had originally heard.(similar to the effect of saying a word over and over until it no longer makes sense)

Recalling those musically formative years, I wrote this piece based on one of my favorite songs, Dazed and Confused, recorded by Led Zeppelin in 1968.I took the title for this piece from its first line, “Been dazed and confused for so long it’s not true” and nearly every musical aspect of this work is derived from that song in some way.Along with melodic and rhythmic components from the original recording, I’ve incorporated reconstructions of more abstract musical elements like vocal style, guitar tone and drum fill patterns.Just as my mottled memory had warped them years ago, those bits and pieces quickly devolve into something far removed from those origins and eventually take on a life of their own.



For So Long It's Not True - performed by Alarm Will Sound

Recorded by the Bel Cuore Quartet for their 2017 album Splashing The Canvas
Composed by Steven Snowden

Splashing The Canvas

Speed Studies

Speed Studies - Bel Cuore Sax Quartet

Recorded by Invoke for their "American Postcards" project.

Tent Revival

Remix 
Stems from Bent Knee's Shiny Eyed Babies
Courtney Swain - Vocals
Gavin Wallace Ailsworth - Drums

Oh my daughters, oh my sons

Schuyler Slack - Cello
Recorded on Oct 7, 2019 
In Your Ear Studios - Richmond, VA

Find out more about this piece here:
http://www.stevensnowden.com/portfolio/this-mortal-frame/

This Mortal Frame: Mvt. 2 - The Crossing at Aquia Creek

Composer, tinkerer, found sound enthusiast.
<a href="http://stevensnowden.com"></a>