Making the Video: "As with rosy steps" - G.F. Handel
After having moved to Seattle and finished setting up my new place, I found myself waiting for the internet installer to stop by to set everything up. I was getting bored waiting. Spotting my tattered score of Handel's Theodora on the table I began to reminisce about its recent performance and my part in all that.... I grabbed the score, opened my computer and and began recording.
That recording (2013) lives here in all its natural and organic glory:
When choosing music for Lumedia's season short films the creative team focuses on pieces we love and are passionate about. "As with rosy steps" is a piece I never tire of. Although it wasn't written for my voice type by traditional opera standards and rules. Rules schmoolz. I wanted to sing it.
I pitched the musical idea to start a cappella and transitioning into full orchestra. It took some convincing. I played the example I had on soundcloud which resulted in a unanimous "Yes!" and began making plans. I was excited, but also nervous. What would the story be like for this video?
We filmed on a weekday from 8am - 3pm on a playground in Rockwall, Texas.
Picture seeing a dolled-up girl in a blue gown on the playground with a small camera crew while on your morning stroll in your quiet neighborhood. Pretty odd, especially on that merry-go-round thing. The whole this was awkward, as was walking around in heels on wood chips all day.
As the day progressed the people on the playground came and went, providing an interesting environment for us to work around. For example, there was a "meet-up" play date at 11am young children and their mothers. Some were running around, but most were standing under trees in the not-so-cool shade holding on to the leg of their chatting mothers.
Around 1:00 pm the playground dwellers disappeared. It seemed they knew something we didn't. A huge cool breeze blew in, in tandem with a frightening dark cloud. The temperature started dropping and big fat rain drops intermittently plunked on our heads. With a predicted temperature of 95 degrees, we avoided many things like sunburn thanks to Eliza dutifully wiping sunscreen on everyone's exposed skin. However, we all forgot about prepping our hydration. The incoming storm was literally a breath of fresh cool air. But, we were not done filming yet!
As the huge cool breezes blew in, in tandem with a frightening dark cloud we decided to make the most out of it!
Before we could get back to filming we ran all the equipment to the cars. At this point it was POURING BUCKETS with wind and intimidating thunder. But that did not stop us. We decided to venture out with an umbrella to protect the camera. The last shot of the short film is my favorite and I am sure it will be yours, too.
After filming I was so exhausted for the following 4-5 days and concluded I had heat exhaustion. Next time we film outside we must prep with gatorade the day before.
Here is "As with rosy steps" from a bunch of artists who are crazy dedicated to their mission to change the medium for early music. This video story relates the experience of walking the path alone, finding one’s gift, and the team of people to help share it with the world.
OUR VIDEO VISION by Christopher Phillpott
Have you ever felt alone while searching for your passion and purpose - waiting to find the strength, some realization, or others to lean on?
For many, the catalyst comes, but not without formidable challenges. Found in Handel’s oratorio Theodora, the aria “As with rosy steps the morn advancing,” presents the listener with that very sense of striving hopefulness out of night and darkness.
The piece’s protagonist comes from a family of noble yet still persecuted Christians living in Antioch at the twilight of the Roman Empire. The soon-to-be martyr Theodora here is found worshipping in private with her friend Irene, only to be arrested and sentenced to service as a prostitute in the temple of Venus. Irene, torn from Theodora, then sings this longing and heart-wrenching number.
We present that special moment here, but with a narrative interpretation told in a new context, as we follow an unnamed musician through her struggle to find both purpose and support in her art. We see her loneliness, her aimlessness, and yet her eventual discovery and personal triumph.