Frumious (2013)

For orchestra (1.1.2.1 2.2.1.1, tmp, 2 perc, strings)

Duration: 8’30”

Written for and first performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for the 2012-2013 Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program

Audio Excerpt by 2014 Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, conducted by Scott Seaton

Program Note

by Stella Joseph-Jarecki

Harrison is especially inspired by the literature and imagery of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass. The word ‘frumious’ is a portmanteau coined by Carroll, to mean both furious and fuming. This dual meaning led Harrison to think “how [she] might be able to create a musical equivalent of Carroll’s portmanteaus, by bringing different styles of music together at the same time as juxtapositions”.

Over the course of eighth minutes, Frumious takes the listener on an energetic and sometimes frenzied journey through many musical genres. The piece does not follow a traditional movement based structure but rather resembles a mosaic of musical moments. Harrison describes how her varied background as a performer helped to shape Frumious: “I was also figuring out ways to embrace my persona as a rock drummer and incorporate this into my scored compositions. [Frumious was] inspired by a collection of funk, jazz, pop, metal, and rock, and you can hear those threads throughout, even if briefly.” It makes sense that Harrison began writing the piece at the drum kit, devising interlocking rhythms and later assigning these to different sections of the orchestra. While there is no specific narrative driving the piece, a piccolo solo which appears five minutes into the piece is meant to represent Alice, navigating her way through Wonderland.

Frumious featues many abrupt shifts in tempo and dynamics, with the full might of the orchestra used to dramatic and disorienting effect. The structure of the Alice books influence this approach, as Carroll created a “fragmented dreamworld in which characters continuously slip in and out of dreaming and waking states”.

Australian Youth Orchestra Podcast Interview

Performances

8 October 2023, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Kazuki Yamada, Symphony Hall, Birmingham, UK - UK Premiere

19 March 2021, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, VIC, AUS

18 March 2021, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Hamer Hall, Melbourne, VIC, AUS

5 August 2019, Australian Youth Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański, Sydney Opera House, NSW, AUS

31 July 2019, Australian Youth Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, China - Asia Premiere

26 July 2019, Australian Youth Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański, Kurhaus, Wiesbaden (Rheingau Musikfestival), Germany

20 July 2019, Australian Youth Orchestra, Krzysztof Urbański, Mecklenburg Vorpommern Festival (Ulrichschusen), Germany - EU Premiere

16 November 2013, Minot Symphony Orchestra, Scott Seaton, Ann Nicole Nelson Hall, North Dakota, USA

31 July 2013, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra (Scott Seaton), Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California, USA - American Premiere

5 February 2013, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Iwaki Auditorium, ABC Southbank Centre, Melbourne, AUS - World Premiere

Reviews & Words

‘Humour was ever at the forefront of this piece and, like the juxtapositions of dream images in the Alice books, the univfying feature was chaotic contrasts, with wild fluctuations in meter, tempo and articulation. An Alice-like piccolo solo was only found towards the end of the piece. This implies the chaos existed long before Alice arrived. A lot of fun.’ Full read here.

Daniel Kaan (classikON)