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A Song For Andre Renard A violin is buried within the grounds of the park and little trace of the action is remains. The work seeks to allude to the, often unacknowledged, influence of André Renard on the Belgian political landscape. In January 1961, what has been referred to as the “strike of the century” came to an end. The general strike had brought much of Belgium, especially Wallonia, to a stand still and clearly signaled the shifting power relationship between Flanders and Wallonia. It saw a point of climax of the Walloon movement and the beginning of the federalization of Belgium. The strike was led by Trade Unionist, Walloon separatist and socialist André Renard. A song for André Renard memorialises the passing of Renard and seeks to recall his influence on the structure of the Belgian political landscape fifty years after the strike, when the question of a divided Belgium remains as contested as it was then. The invisibility in this piece refers to the unnamed influence of Renard today. Violins could also be seen to allude to the past and the future. The nature of the wood and the process by which violins are made means that only over the course of time and especially through regular playing, they develop into their full sound. One could say that high quality violins are supposed to mature and are therefore made for the future, not the present. Before being buried, the new violin used in the piece was rapidly aged to the date of the end of the strike. This was done using a mechanical device that can simulate months of playing in a few hours. The device works by sending vibrations similar to those created by playing, through the violin. During the course of the six weeks prior to the burying, the playing age was be projected back to 1961. The work is intended to allude to both the idea of thinking about the future as well as drawing on past histories, to understand the present. |
