Back to Nature: Our Pastorales Journey
Written by Sarah Papadopoulos, HIP Company violinist and co-director
21st November, 2021.
In August of this year, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be a part of HIP Company’s first album, Pastorales: Arias for the Open Air, together with cellist Krista Low, soprano Bonnie de la Hunty, and harpsichordist James Huntingford. To record a carefully curated programme of some of my all time favourite repertoire alongside great friends is nothing short of a dream come true.
For us directors (Bonnie, Krista, and myself), and our CEO, Luke, the Pastorales process began many months ago with the administrative preparation. After finding out we had been awarded an Australia Council grant for the project at the end of last year, the early months of 2021 were spent programming, licensing, scheduling rehearsals and recordings, doing photoshoots and consulting with our amazing photographer and graphic designer Nick FitzPatrick about the album art, harpsichord moving, scheduling harpsichord tuning time, harpsichord this, harpsichord that. The harpsichord is a tricky beast at times (but absolutely worth the faff) if you haven’t caught my drift. By the time August rolled around, we were so ready to jump into the studio and see our excel spreadsheets come to life.
For me, the musical preparation process was exactly what I was after for my own musical journey. Preparing for something as permanent as a recording is incredibly motivating and really made me listen more critically to myself in my own private practice. Two of the pieces in our album; bird, songs, seas by Chris Williams, and From Nourlangie by Peter Sculthorpe (where I feature on the viola!), were a particularly exciting opportunity to adapt and play modern Australian repertoire on gut strings. For the Williams piece, there was a small scare when I realised I wasn’t certain my fingerboard was even long enough for the top A! It’s okay though, we made it with about a centimetre to spare.
We recorded for a jam-packed week in August at Sundown Studios. A huge shout out to Sound Engineer Elliot Smith for his incredible artistry throughout this time and the following weeks of editing and mixing, and to Masterer George Georgiadis for adding the final layer of polish!
With the recordings complete, it was time to start preparing for the next stage of the Pastorales journey - our music videos! For this, we had the incredible Dylan Woods from Partografia Photography and Film accompany Bonnie, Krista and I on a few filming trips around regional Western Australia. Our first filming location was a day trip to John Forrest National Park, followed by stints further afield in the Pinnacles, Moora, Pemberton, and Yallingup. From memorising our music and colour coordinating our outfits to dealing with the winds of the South West, we overcame all of the challenges three musicians (plus an incredibly outdoor savvy videographer) in the wilderness could expect to come across, and shared many enjoyable days together discussing and curating (and wining and dining in our spare time).
And now for the last stage of our Pastorales journey - the album launch concert! On 4th December at 7:30pm at Christ Church Claremont, HIP Company will present a selection of pieces from our album, as well as a few Christmas favourites to prepare everyone for the upcoming festive season. It has been such a privilege and joy to prepare these works alongside such beautiful people. I’ve discovered a lot about the repertoire as well as about my own playing and interpretations. I so hope you can come along to share and celebrate!
Click the button below for more details about the album, and to purchase your CD.