Composing a violin and cello duet based off of Simple Gifts had been a long time goal of ours. When the pandemic hit, being stuck at home and separated from so much, it really made us appreciate the simple things we had access to (and missing the simple things we didn't), which sparked the inspiration anew.
The duet doesn't really keep it simple though, as we threw in a lot of fun extended classical music techniques like complex double stopping and left hand pizzicato đ. And it's not always cheerful and uplifting either, with its dark and brooding minor key section (hey, it was a pandemic. đ¤ˇââď¸đ¤ˇââď¸)
Once we completed the composition and finished recording the track, we were excited to push our filming skills outside our comfort zone and try some new things. It started strong. We arrived on site day 1 at 5:30 AM without a memory card in the camera (we were rusty... hey, it was a pandemic. đ¤ˇââď¸đ¤ˇââď¸ ) We were close enough to go home and get the memory card, but the beautiful morning light was lost.
AH! The disappointment! The day felt wasted. Luckily, we are used to totally messing up our filming sessions, so sad but resilient, we went home with a plan to try again at sunset. That evening we quickly realized that the sunset lighting at the location was MAGICAL. Sometimes it pays to forget to look at that checklist one last time.
Ultimately, we were really excited as we went through and put the video together. It was the highlight of our year (hey, it was a PANDEMIC.)
If you enjoyed this video and made it through this blog, you might be interested in another video & blog. Check out "A Portrait of Slytherin and His House". A Duo.Hansen original inspired by...Well, if you don't know... đ
You can also stream "Simple Gifts Theme and Variations for Violin & Cello" on Spotify!