Hi-Vis (2021)
for orchestra (2.2.2.2 4.2.3.1, tmp, 2 perc, hp, strings (8.6.5.4.3))
Duration: 10’
Commissioned by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Archival audio available on request
Program Note
Hi-Vis is inspired by night roadworks. For the majority of 2020 (and beyond!), major roadworks took place outside my Western Sydney home from 9pm to 4am each night: flickering lights, continuous drilling, humming, reversing, beeping, and grinding. Yet, amid lockdown times, I found the rhythms of machinery strangely comforting and exciting, and a gentle reminder of the existence of other people!
Hi-Vis is a musical re-imagining of these sights and sounds, but also a celebration of all things hi-vis, musical and otherwise. Think fluorescent, luminescent and neon colours, LED traffic batons, and, of course, workers in hi-vis vests. I began to imagine what road workers might be listening to, and how the contrast between the strobing lights and dark sky conjured up an almost nightclub-like environment. The piece loosely draws on ‘hi-vis’ elements of electronic dance music, brass fanfares, boot-scooting, and disco, all filtered through the constant on-and-off of earmuffs.
Performances
16 April 2025, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ben Northey, Metropolis Festival, Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne, VIC
4 April 2024, Oslo Philharmonic, Eivind Aadland, Oslo Concert Hall, Norway
19 October 2023, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Eivind Aadland, Kilden Performing Arts Centre, Norway -European Premiere
1 July 2023, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Elena Schwarz, Perth Concert Hall, WA
30 June 2023, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Elena Schwarz, Perth Concert Hall, WA
11 March 2022, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Eivind Aadland, Federation Concert Hall, Hobart, TAS - World premiere
Reviews & Words
Speaking of freneticism and solitude, the second half of the program opened with Sydney composer Holly Harrison’s 2022 orchestral extravaganza Hi-Vis, inspired by roadworks outside her home during lockdown….This is a terrifically fun work, big and loud and witty. WASO quite rightly took the opportunity to let their hair down. The audience responded accordingly.
After the interval, Holly Harrison’s Hi-Vis presented a programmatic palette inspired by 24/7 roadworks during Sydney’s COVID lockdown.
A hurried muttering to open, like a tradie clearing the throat, led in a giddy, jazz-infused rhapsody not so much in blue but fluorescent orange and neon light. Muted brass gave hints of tin-pan alley before a big string section painted an industrious scene. Syncopation in flute and clarinet flipped the mood to a surging, subterranean theme that morphed again to industrious bustle; disparate sounds creating a chaotic jumble redolent of disruption and discord.
Trumpet at nose-bleed altitude (Smith) rose to a climax, before a reset and gentle fade to close.
(David Cusworth, West Australian)
The second half of the program is my big surprise. Harrison’s Hi-Vis starts with a bang and a gliss and we are hanging on for the ride. This phenomenally fresh work may be best described as Gershwin meets Stravinsky to write a Mission Impossible theme. It’s hugely entertaining; muted brass, slap pizzicato strings, jazz flute, drum kit – this work has it all.