Superhighway (2024)
(Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra)

My soundworld embraces a range of genres and stylistic juxtapositions, and this concerto is no exception. You may hear elements from funk, metal, punk, disco, prog-rock, blues, and perhaps even some gospel and hip-hop too, but most of all, I hope you will hear what a wonderfully diverse instrument the saxophone is. This is an instrument capable of extraordinary agility - it can be wild and unhinged one moment, and tender and honeyed the next. It can cut like a knife or be as smooth as velvet.  It can be swift, slinky, savage, and sultry. In the hands of Matt Styles, it is all these things.  In the spirit of spontaneity, there are a few built-in improvisation moments too - a nod to Matt’s accomplished career as a classical, jazz and cross-over performer.

Now, about that title. Concertos are the perfect vehicle to highlight a soloist, and with this in mind, the work explores the overarching theme of superhighways. I could write all day about metaphors of orchestras and soloists as highways and cars, but what I’m really interested in is music that just goes. I wanted to write a work from ‘go to whoa’, where the saxophone takes charge and harnesses a keep-on-truckin’ type of attitude.  

The first (and longest) movement ‘Heavy Haulage’ is very much inspired by my commute from Western Sydney via the notorious M4 motorway. A truck in my rearview mirror is almost always a constant (and I can’t help but notice that some trucks have kinder faces than others). This movement amplifies this experience and imagines a superhighway on a much-larger scale. The highway weaves a crisscrossed web of on and off-ramps, and the alto sax must navigate its way forward, carving its own path.  There are rapid stylistic changes throughout with the extroverted sax showing off its skills from section to section, continually seeking to outdo itself.  Listen out for bluesy altissimo sax in the opening, hip-hop inspired slap-tongues in the middle, and dueling jams at the end.

The second movement features the soprano saxophone, providing a dramatic mood shift. Move over trucks and dogs and make way for ‘Whales & Snails’. This movement showcases the tender side of the saxophone, conjuring up a more lyrical musical language, with plenty of bends and smears from the orchestra lurking beneath. Inspired by migration superhighways or the Humpback Highway, this movement pays homage to the awe-inducing journey that thousands of whales make each winter to warmer waters.  There’re also a few sea snails hitching a ride, too.

And finally, ‘Techno Wizard’. The third movement takes the idea of the information superhighway (the internet) as its starting point and imagines the saxophone as a master of the Dark Arts of Technology: a techno wizard. The sax acts as a hacker of sorts, bending the orchestra to its every whim. Conjuring up themes of data hacking and artificial intelligence, woodwinds, strings, and muted brass beep and whirr throughout, perhaps the inner workings of a machine. As a result, this movement is musically darker. The middle features plenty of bass instrument action (I’m looking at you, bassoons and low brass), as the saxophone surfs across the top. After an impromptu jam session with timpani and basses, the work ends on a joyous note, with the sax driving the work home in an almost gospel-influenced way.

Holly Harrison