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| Apollinaire, La Mandoline, l'œillet et le bambou |
We are already (almost)
accustomed to notice and recommend interesting exhibitions organized by the
museum Historial de la Grande Guerre, and yet we are always pleasantly
surprised at them. This time the title drew our attention: Hearing the War -
Sounds, Musics and Silence in 14-18; because the hearing is – with the
sense of smell – very hard to recreate and because the subtitle gathers the
wide range of experience, up to the stillness. Running from March to mid
November 2014, this special exhibition of the Historial Museum enables the
visitor to discover the unprecedented sound transformations which occurred
during the WWI and to enter into a new “sound universe”, making use of all
sorts of testimonies (objects, sounds, images, texts).
Let’s start with a given. It is impossible for us to hear once again the exact sound of the Great War, even if in the Historial Museum we can listen to the only survived (and now restored) original recording of those years: the testimony of a sound spectrogram which recorded the moment the battle ceased on Armistice Day and the following silence – and especially this latter is touching. Nevertheless the exhibition succeeds in its intent by developing two themes. It firstly explores the sound of war, including the roar of artillery, the machine guns and the clashes of combat or the noises of the rear guard, the attack and defense sounds, but also the music made during the war, improvised by the soldiers and accompanied by self-made instruments. Secondly the attention is focused on musicians and on their way to approach, describe, elaborate or remember the war. Through recordings and music scores, visitors discover not only military marches, national or victory anthems, funeral or popular songs (including the cinematographic tradition or jazz), but also the works of the leading composers, such as Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Stravinski and many others.
Let’s start with a given. It is impossible for us to hear once again the exact sound of the Great War, even if in the Historial Museum we can listen to the only survived (and now restored) original recording of those years: the testimony of a sound spectrogram which recorded the moment the battle ceased on Armistice Day and the following silence – and especially this latter is touching. Nevertheless the exhibition succeeds in its intent by developing two themes. It firstly explores the sound of war, including the roar of artillery, the machine guns and the clashes of combat or the noises of the rear guard, the attack and defense sounds, but also the music made during the war, improvised by the soldiers and accompanied by self-made instruments. Secondly the attention is focused on musicians and on their way to approach, describe, elaborate or remember the war. Through recordings and music scores, visitors discover not only military marches, national or victory anthems, funeral or popular songs (including the cinematographic tradition or jazz), but also the works of the leading composers, such as Debussy, Saint-Saëns, Stravinski and many others.
All this was made possible by
an innovative staging concept – which recalls a music score with objects and
documents presented like musical notes –, by appropriate listening devices
(headphones, sound showers and listening chairs) and by the innovative sound
wall, designed by Luc Martinez, in the small exhibition hall.
After a first overview of the
aim of the exhibition in the entrance lobby (and have a look at the original
manuscript of Apollinaire’s poem Les obus miaulent en boche too!),
different aspects of the topic are addressed. The exhibition starts with the
military music of the troops marching and with their instruments, with the
songs of the rear guard and the front line, the soldier’ instrument made in the
trenches with raw material and the industrial ones. It shows then photos and
originals of renowned war composers; also funeral music as national culture of
mourning is displayed with scores, posters and images. A section is devoted to
the concerts which took place with charitable and patriotic purposes in the
rear guard, other sections to concerts on the front line and the music in the
camps and in the occupied territories. Also the impact of the new sound
universe of the new Jazz music is illustrated. Moreover the exhibition
introduces the visitors into the themes of acoustic wound and excessive noise
(in the section entitled “the amputated ear”), as well as the silence of the
Great War as symbol of mourning. In the end a section discusses the musical
creation connected – since the end of the conflict – to the memory of the Great
War.
In short, don’t miss the
exhibition Hearing the War - Sounds, Musics and Silence in 14-18 because
it guarantees a unique experience into the sound universe of the World War One.
Further information here.
