Yesterday we were delighted to work once again with contemporary composer Philip G. W Henderson , recording his new work for String Quartet entitled ‘The Hop-pickers Daughter’. It is a collection of three pieces which are influenced by elements of his family history in Kent and are highly inventive and lyrical in nature.
The players on the recording were the same group who had performed this work back in September at the Cadogan Hall, in aid of the charity Soundaround so were already familiar with the first movement of the piece ( although Philip has written an additional two movements since then).
The three hour session was intense in nature and once we started recording, barely a second was wasted as the music was rhythmically challenging in places, requiring great concentration. It was also important to capture the mood of each movement and this was greatly helped by having the composer present and able to give us guidance with regard to phrasing and feel.
By the end of the recording session, all three movements had been completed and we left Philip mixing and mastering with the engineer.