"Sit Down, Swallow. Don't Fly Yet." | The Saddest Autumn Song
Description: Ripe is the grain, yellow the straw,
ripe is the cabbage, yellow the leaves.
Sad girl, have you no love?
Nobody answers. The song asks once at the beginning, counts the entire autumn harvest in between, then asks again at the end — and lets the question stand over an empty field.
Zrejlo je žito is a folk song from Prekmurje, the flat eastern edge of Slovenia, and like the finest folk poetry it says almost nothing about feeling. It counts what the year has brought in: ripe grain and yellow straw, ripe cabbage and yellow leaves, ripe wheat and yellow straw again. Everything has come to fruit. Then it turns, exactly once, to a girl standing in the middle of all that abundance — and the whole song tilts. One grammatical detail carries it: the verb is in the second person. The song does not describe her. It speaks to her.
Tine Bec's arrangement for three female voices and string orchestra refuses to sweeten any of it. It opens Adagio ma non troppo, strings sempre legato beneath a single voice. The harvest is then counted out over twenty-nine bars, cellos and basses pizzicato before returning arco for the one full climax — after which everything folds back, and the last bars fall from pianissimo to a triple piano on a single syllable: ti. You. The swallow in the refrain is not decoration, either. Swallows leave in autumn. The singer is asking this one to sit a little longer.
We film in a sanctuary of true beauty. No artificial intelligence has touched this footage, these voices, or this landscape. Real singers, a real field in the last hour of light, real film emulation — the flaws left where they fell.
--- IN THE FIELD ---
ANA GRGIĆ and ANJA GALE — the two lonely girls in the middle of the wheat field, in Prekmurje folk costume.
--- THE ARRANGER ---
TINE BEC is among the most prolific Slovenian composers of his generation, with an opus of more than a hundred works. He studied composition under Jani Golob at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and was formed in the choirs of Ambrož Čopi, where he sang and worked as répétiteur. His sacred music draws repeatedly on Gregorian chant, and his work has taken first prize at the international Aegis carminis competition. He is a singer himself, which is why his vocal writing sits exactly where voices are strongest.
--- THE SINGERS ---
NIKA GORIČ (soprano) — recipient of The Queen's Commendation for Excellence at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a performer at the Berliner Philharmonie and the Sydney Opera House.
MOJCA BITENC KRIŽAJ (soprano) — soloist of SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, who left a medical degree for the operatic stage. Winner of the Prešeren Student Award; has appeared with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and at the Bregenz Festival before 7,000 spectators.
NUŠKA DRAŠČEK (mezzo-soprano) — principal soloist of SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and recipient of the Prešeren Fund Award (2024), equally at home in opera and in chanson.
--- THE ORCHESTRA ---
AMADEO STRING ORCHESTRA, founded in 2013, gathers graduates of leading European academies and members of national orchestras, under conductor TILEN DRAKSLER.
Aleksandar Vojneski, Bruna Šestić, Katarina Viher, Klavdija Novšak, Kristian Ilić, Leon Cesarec, Manica Slapšak, Metka Udovč, Neža Homšak, Nuša Rejc, Sandi Baitokova, Serhii Zhuravlov, Urban Čefarin, Žiga Faganel, Živa Grmovšek
--- CREDITS ---
Music: Prekmurje folk song
Arrangement: Tine Bec
Conductor & Musical Direction: Tilen Draksler
Sound Design & Mastering: Boris Rener, Danilo Ženko, Iztok Zupan — Studio Klopotec
Director & Producer: Primož Zevnik
Producers: Gal Nagode, Juš Hrastnik
Production Assistant: Janez Draksler
Productions: PPZ & TAJUS
Camera: Jan Eržen, Maj Vreš, Tevž Smolnikar & TAJUS Production
Shot on Blackmagic RAW · Graded with Filmbox (D50 / T500)
Dolly: Aljaž Žavrlan · Remote Camera: Gašper Gorenak
Lighting: Event Lighting (Arri & BMFL)
Set Design: Tatjana Kortnik, Ilija Furst
Rigging: Rok Zavrl — STRC
Power: MB grip · Catering: Ga-tering, Gašper Hočevar
Technical Crew Leads: Matija Repinc, Urban Zupan
EGSŠ Crew: Dan Novak, David Klobučar, Jakob Komovec, Maja Avsenek, Oskar Valant, Aljaž Korošec, Cene Pajntar, Gal Bevc, Jaka Porenta, Jurij Komelj, Lara Vilman, Maj Mihalič, Nik Čeh, Tadej Poklukar, Zala Črv, Žan Boštic, Zarja Manevski, Benjamin Avsec, Elena Šmitran, Ema Vrhunc, Žiga Juratovec, Jaka Strupi, Jon Osenjak, Tor Žerjav, Anabela Pogačnik, Svit Vodnjov
Gimnazija Kranj Crew: Mak Detela, Luka Bavdaž
Our thanks to the ISKRAEMECO Folklore Group and to dear Mrs Marija Šenk for the beautiful Prekmurje folk costume, which both girls wore with particular joy at the morning shoot.
Special thanks to Father Damjan Ristič, rector of the Jesuit community of St. Joseph.
zevnikov.com
#ZrejloJeZito #SlovenianFolkSong #ClassicalMusic #Prekmurje #FolkSong #StringOrchestra #VocalTrio #TineBec #AmadeoStringOrchestra #TilenDraksler #NikaGoric #MojcaBitencKrizaj #NuskaDrascek #Slovenia #Zevnikov Close description
ripe is the cabbage, yellow the leaves.
Sad girl, have you no love?
Nobody answers. The song asks once at the beginning, counts the entire autumn harvest in between, then asks again at the end — and lets the question stand over an empty field.
Zrejlo je žito is a folk song from Prekmurje, the flat eastern edge of Slovenia, and like the finest folk poetry it says almost nothing about feeling. It counts what the year has brought in: ripe grain and yellow straw, ripe cabbage and yellow leaves, ripe wheat and yellow straw again. Everything has come to fruit. Then it turns, exactly once, to a girl standing in the middle of all that abundance — and the whole song tilts. One grammatical detail carries it: the verb is in the second person. The song does not describe her. It speaks to her.
Tine Bec's arrangement for three female voices and string orchestra refuses to sweeten any of it. It opens Adagio ma non troppo, strings sempre legato beneath a single voice. The harvest is then counted out over twenty-nine bars, cellos and basses pizzicato before returning arco for the one full climax — after which everything folds back, and the last bars fall from pianissimo to a triple piano on a single syllable: ti. You. The swallow in the refrain is not decoration, either. Swallows leave in autumn. The singer is asking this one to sit a little longer.
We film in a sanctuary of true beauty. No artificial intelligence has touched this footage, these voices, or this landscape. Real singers, a real field in the last hour of light, real film emulation — the flaws left where they fell.
--- IN THE FIELD ---
ANA GRGIĆ and ANJA GALE — the two lonely girls in the middle of the wheat field, in Prekmurje folk costume.
--- THE ARRANGER ---
TINE BEC is among the most prolific Slovenian composers of his generation, with an opus of more than a hundred works. He studied composition under Jani Golob at the Ljubljana Academy of Music and was formed in the choirs of Ambrož Čopi, where he sang and worked as répétiteur. His sacred music draws repeatedly on Gregorian chant, and his work has taken first prize at the international Aegis carminis competition. He is a singer himself, which is why his vocal writing sits exactly where voices are strongest.
--- THE SINGERS ---
NIKA GORIČ (soprano) — recipient of The Queen's Commendation for Excellence at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and a performer at the Berliner Philharmonie and the Sydney Opera House.
MOJCA BITENC KRIŽAJ (soprano) — soloist of SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, who left a medical degree for the operatic stage. Winner of the Prešeren Student Award; has appeared with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and at the Bregenz Festival before 7,000 spectators.
NUŠKA DRAŠČEK (mezzo-soprano) — principal soloist of SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana and recipient of the Prešeren Fund Award (2024), equally at home in opera and in chanson.
--- THE ORCHESTRA ---
AMADEO STRING ORCHESTRA, founded in 2013, gathers graduates of leading European academies and members of national orchestras, under conductor TILEN DRAKSLER.
Aleksandar Vojneski, Bruna Šestić, Katarina Viher, Klavdija Novšak, Kristian Ilić, Leon Cesarec, Manica Slapšak, Metka Udovč, Neža Homšak, Nuša Rejc, Sandi Baitokova, Serhii Zhuravlov, Urban Čefarin, Žiga Faganel, Živa Grmovšek
--- CREDITS ---
Music: Prekmurje folk song
Arrangement: Tine Bec
Conductor & Musical Direction: Tilen Draksler
Sound Design & Mastering: Boris Rener, Danilo Ženko, Iztok Zupan — Studio Klopotec
Director & Producer: Primož Zevnik
Producers: Gal Nagode, Juš Hrastnik
Production Assistant: Janez Draksler
Productions: PPZ & TAJUS
Camera: Jan Eržen, Maj Vreš, Tevž Smolnikar & TAJUS Production
Shot on Blackmagic RAW · Graded with Filmbox (D50 / T500)
Dolly: Aljaž Žavrlan · Remote Camera: Gašper Gorenak
Lighting: Event Lighting (Arri & BMFL)
Set Design: Tatjana Kortnik, Ilija Furst
Rigging: Rok Zavrl — STRC
Power: MB grip · Catering: Ga-tering, Gašper Hočevar
Technical Crew Leads: Matija Repinc, Urban Zupan
EGSŠ Crew: Dan Novak, David Klobučar, Jakob Komovec, Maja Avsenek, Oskar Valant, Aljaž Korošec, Cene Pajntar, Gal Bevc, Jaka Porenta, Jurij Komelj, Lara Vilman, Maj Mihalič, Nik Čeh, Tadej Poklukar, Zala Črv, Žan Boštic, Zarja Manevski, Benjamin Avsec, Elena Šmitran, Ema Vrhunc, Žiga Juratovec, Jaka Strupi, Jon Osenjak, Tor Žerjav, Anabela Pogačnik, Svit Vodnjov
Gimnazija Kranj Crew: Mak Detela, Luka Bavdaž
Our thanks to the ISKRAEMECO Folklore Group and to dear Mrs Marija Šenk for the beautiful Prekmurje folk costume, which both girls wore with particular joy at the morning shoot.
Special thanks to Father Damjan Ristič, rector of the Jesuit community of St. Joseph.
zevnikov.com
#ZrejloJeZito #SlovenianFolkSong #ClassicalMusic #Prekmurje #FolkSong #StringOrchestra #VocalTrio #TineBec #AmadeoStringOrchestra #TilenDraksler #NikaGoric #MojcaBitencKrizaj #NuskaDrascek #Slovenia #Zevnikov Close description
