Everything begins and ends at exactly the right time and place
– Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Completed as part of the Peter Sculthorpe Music Fellowship at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, we were very excited to assist Peggy in recording her major piano suite which is in equal parts; mysterious, eloquent and profound.
While the work is inspired by Joan Lindsay’s famous novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Peggy doesn’t just retell the story in a linear sense, but explores it in a dimensional sense, referring to some of the characters and events while exploring the nature of time.
The recording features pianists Zubin Kanga, Ian Munro, Philip Eames, Maggie Pang, Lara Rayner, Darci Gayford, James Wilkes and the composer herself. They seemed about as taken with the piece as we were:
“Peggy certainly shines a very unique light on the Australian classic and it will be a pleasure for any listener to finally be able to hear and experience the whole work!”
– Maggie Pang, pianist for Time II
“I was constantly inspired by the versatility and unassailable quality of Peggy’s craft in the Picnic at Hanging Rock suite. Ranging from the dense, angular counterpoint of the Fugue to the immense sonorities of The Rock every note had a musical and structural reason behind it.”
– Philip Eames, pianist for Fugue, The McCraw, Time II and The Rock
“Peggy captured a true sense of loss, at the same time portraying a sweet wistfulness. The harmonies and contrast in register had an ethereal feel. Overall, an incredible mood was created, which made the music a pleasure to play”
– Lara Rayner, pianist for Long Lost Lost
“Bewitching! Peggy’s Suite somehow seems to possess the same atmosphere of mystery that made the novel and the movie so haunting.”
– James Wilkes, pianist for Totem Animals
TRACKLIST
- Time I
- Waltz
- Nocturne
- Fugue
- Time II
- Long Lost Lost
- Totem Animal
- Miranda
- Time III
- The McCraw
- Into Nature
- The Rock
IN COLLABORATION
Created in response to this album.
VIDEO: TIME I BY ELLI HUBER
Time I is a grounded, present dimension. Slow and deliberate, this trapeze routine by Elli Huber was filmed in slow motion, moving in and out of Time I.
Trapeze routine choreographed and performed by Elli Huber
VIDEO: CHRONO…LOGIC BY LOUISA POLETTI
Time II is a transient dimension, an aspect of time in which events loop, a realm somewhere between the corporeal and the spiritual.
chrono…logic is a film and dance piece and was choreographed, performed and filmed by Germany-based Australian dance artist Louisa Poletti of IF Productions
VIDEO: TIME III BY STEPHANIE CHOLAKYAN
Time III is a heightened dimension, where consciousness is set aside.
This video was animated by 3D motion graphics artist Stephanie Cholakyan, beautifully fitting the theme of ‘geometry’ and ‘time beyond time’.
THE TEAM
Composer | Peggy Polias |
Piano | Philip Eames, Darci Gayford, Zubin Kanga, Ian Munro, Maggie Pang, Peggy Polias, Lara Rayner, James Wilkes |
Sound Engineer | James Passfield |
Producer | Cameron Lam |
Cover Art | Ala Paredes |