Hush. Even in the dark days, there is hope.
Think beyond the light failing on this grubby afternoon…
A film directed by Sarah Tremlett and edited by James Symonds for Lucy English‘s massive, multi-filmmaker collabortive project The Book of Hours. Sarah co-authored the text, writing the first four verses, with Lucy writing the second four. Voices include Helmie Stil in addition to both poets. The music is “Song for Athene” from Flights of Angels, Prior Park College Chapel Choir, Quest Music UK, 1998. The video footage was re-edited from a Creative Commons-licensed video by Christopher Huppertz.
Subsequent to the original publication of this poet, Sarah sent along some additional information, including the following process notes:
When I talked to Lucy about making films for The Book of Hours I was immediately interested in how to convey the winter and summer solstices, as I was developing a project on time and light. In terms of winter solstice, I read quite a bit about its historic significance. I was interested in the ritual power of the sun, and the ancient ceremony of ‘Sol Invictus’ which I wanted as the title. I also knew I wanted to experiment with vertical movement, creating a rising and falling, perhaps quite abstractly, with something like the sun – a ball maybe – and tried to do this at first through filming a yellow ball. I also liked the idea of the shadows created on the ball to show it turning. I made footage of this, in bright sun on holiday, but this didn’t really go anywhere.
I then found the glitch video tape visuals, which included orbic Christmas decoration shapes, and also give a sense of the vibration of light, and decided that these could be edited to work with seasonal change. The choice of this old footage was partly influenced, I see now, by my interest in early surrealist images of nature: Black Sun 1927–8 by German artist Max Ernst (1891–1976), is one that stands out, or Ambassador of Autumn (1922) by Swiss- German artist Paul Klee (1879–1940). I also wanted to write the first four verses myself, and then gave it to Lucy who wrote the second four. I wanted to include Helmie Stil’s distinctive voice, alongside Lucy and myself; with my intention of combining three voices that would suit the changing seasons. Helmie’s I saw as representing the spring sun, bright but gentle, delicate and inspired in tone; whilst Lucy’s came next, more summer, developed, but still holding strong; but ultimately, rather than the fading of autumn warmth and my somehow less musical tones, I became a chorus for their atmospheric voices.
I had in mind music that would evoke the sombre, stillness of winter, but also the slow and weighty majesty of the sun coming back to life; becoming magnificent again through the seasons. I also wanted to try to convey how ancient people might have felt about the darkness of winter, with its mystery and portentousness, and the jubilation of intensely brilliant summer. I was also fortunate to have been given a collection of sublime choral music, and had already earmarked this particularly moving and atmospheric ‘Song for Athene’ as the perfect anthem for the regeneration of the solar year.
