Autumn: The Sleeping Beauty Project

Welcome to the third and final upload of The Sleeping Beauty Project! I’m so happy I was able to take on this challenge with my limited time and resource! I feel like this project just proves that if you want to create something, it IS possible to find a way! I hope that this little online project can one day turn into a live performance. I have so many more ideas of what I could do and fix so it can be a really fun and interesting in-person performance. Thank you for going on this journey with me!

This last song, I’ll be honest, I’ve wanted to sing for the past 15 years! I was always told it just didn’t fit my voice but here I am, 15 years older and I’m throwing ALL THE RULES OUT THE WINDOW. I feel like I’m honestly just barely scratching the surface with what I can do with this song, but I’m so happy I was able to finally put together a performance.

I wanted this to be the last song in the Sleeping Beauty Project for a couple of reasons. 1) This song is about the season that you go through in life and how you wake up one day and your youth is gone. 2) These fairy tale princesses aren’t portrayed to have real relatable struggles so this song gives Aurora depth. 3) Finally, it’s just powerful music. Do we need much more if an excuse than just wanting to revel in Fauré’s masterpiece?

The mirror was a last minute addition. I set up my camera angle a little funky and my first take I had this mirror image showing up in the frame. I realized that if I wanted to create something different than my usual “park and bark”, that this mirror would be a nice touch (plus it gives me something to do during the piano intro and outro which is always a singers struggle!).

Initially, Aurora was to go elsewhere in the garden and have this conversation with a tree… but I do sing these live and in the moment so finding a tree outside was a challenge I couldn’t swing (maybe next time!). However, I found using the reflection in the mirror was a much better chose and actually changed how I felt about Aurora going through the realization that youth is fleeting.

You can check out the lyrics down below. Head over to my finally blog on this project which gives full written detail about the scene, setting, and text all in one post.

Thank you again for joining me on this journey! I’m excited too see what’s next!

-Laura

Automne                                                                       Autumn

 Automne au ciel brumeux, aux horizons navrants,          Autumn of misty skies and heartbreaking horizons,
Aux rapides couchants, aux aurores pâlies,                     Of fleeting sunsets, of pale dawns
Je regarde couler, comme l’eau du torrent,                    I watch flowing by, like the waters of a torrent,
Tes jours faits de mélancolie.                                         Your days tinged with melancholy.

Sur l’aile des regrets mes esprits emportés                     My thoughts, carried away on the wings of regret,
Comme s’il se pouvait que notre âge renaisse!               --As though it were possible for our age to be reborn!
Parcourent en rêvant les coteaux enchantés,                 Travel in dreams over the enchanted hillsides,
Où jadis, sourit ma jeunesse!                                         Where once my youth had smiled!

Je sens au clair soleil du souvenir vainqueur,                  In the bright sunlight of victorious memory
Refleurir en boquets les roses déliées,                           I smell the fallen roses blooming again in bouquets
Et monter à mes yeux des larmes,                                  That in my heart
Mes vingt ans avaient oubliées!                                     At twenty had been forgotten!