I have fond (if very, very vague memories) of watching early episodes of the original Upstairs Downstairs when I got home from school - the most vivid being the episode in which Rose is force-fed (off camera thank goodness) while imprisoned as a suffragette.
That being said, my level of anticipation and excitement at the prospect of the updated series was inevitably mellowed by the awesomeness that is Downton Abbey. And the first episode did nothing to improve my excitement, as evidenced by a rather lackluster live tweet and my near failure at watching the second episode on air (Because I was rather meh about the whole thing and NOT, sadly, because I was watching Game of Thrones).
Oh I'm glad I did. I'm not going to delve too heavily into plot details (You can watch the full episode --and you should-- here until May 24. Thank you PBS). I just wanted to say...
Lady Persephone, played by Claire Foy, is my least favorite character who gets all the best clothes. And when I say "all the best clothes" (because it's not like her sister, played by Keeley Hawes, is lacking in jaw-droppingly gorgeous wardrobe) I mean, all the RED clothes.
 |
| via fromasinkingboat |
 | ||
| via recyledmoviecostumes |
 |
| via Beyond the Pale |
Why does she get all the red? Well, I'm sure part of the reason is that Claire Foy looks utterly fabulous in red. As production designer Eve Stewart notes (discussing sets, but the same holds true for costumes I'm sure):
...sometimes you have to tweak the colours that you've chosen once you know who has been cast. The cast will all have different skin tones and ultimately it's our job is to help make them look good.
And the other reason? (Maybe.) What better way to visually represent your character's budding fascist sympathies than to put her in a lot of red and black. I must say, it's a pretty visually stunning shot when Lady Persephone is en route to an Oswald Mosely speech; the screen cap doesn't do it justice.
 |
| via claire-foy.org |
The title of this episode,"The Ladybird", is derived from the German lullaby that new parlormaid Rachel teaches to Ivy. I'd never heard of it, though Ivy says "oh, we have that in English." Like I said, I'm not getting into plot, but the song is all symbolic and foreshadowing and whatnot, in a way that is the opposite of subtle. (Hint: The swastika kind of looks like a spider, doesn't it?)
The lyrics (German and English) follow (Translation copyright © by Emily Ezust,
from The Lied and Art Song Texts Page -- http://www.lieder.net/):
| Marienwürmchen, setze dich auf meine Hand,
Ich tu' dir nichts zuleide. Es soll dir nichts zuleid geschehn, Will nur deine bunten Flügel sehn, Bunte Flügel meine Freude. Marienwürmchen, fliege weg, Dein Häuschen brennt, die Kinder schrein So sehre, wie so sehre. Die böse Spinne spinnt sie ein, Marienwürmchen, flieg hinein, Deine Kinder schreien sehre. Marienwürmchen, fliege hin zu Nachbars Kind, Sie tun dir nichts zuleide. Es soll dir ja kein Leid geschehn, Sie wollen deine bunten Flügel sehn, Und grüß sie alle beide. |
Ladybird, sit on my hand
I will do you no harm. No harm shall come to you; I only wish to see your colorful wings: your colorful wings are my joy. Ladybird, fly away, your house is burning, your children are crying so much, so much. The evil spider is spinning her web around them; Ladybird, fly home, your children are crying so. Ladybird, fly to the neighbor's children, They will do you no harm. No harm will come to you: they only wish to see your colorful wings, and greet them both for me. |
I mention it here because I liked the song; it's sad, German, and about a ladybug/ladybird. Seems like something I should know, right? I spent the after hour of Sunday night's broadcast scouring the Internet and learned a couple of things.
- There are actually two versions of Marienwürmchen - one with a melody by Schumann and the other by Brahms. They seem to get confused a lot. Brahms is the one we're interested in.
- It's well nigh impossible to find free sheet music to said tune. It's not like buying one digital copy of the sheet music is going to break the bank - it's more the principle of the thing, i.e. why is this one song of Brahms (who died in 1897) is NOT in public domain.
No comments:
Post a Comment