An exhibition devoted to the music and sounds of 1914-18 has been extended at the Museum of the Great War in Péronne, close to the Somme battlefields of northern France.
‘Entendre la Guerre’ reopened to visitors after the museum’s winter break, and will now continue until April 26th 2015.
Music became closely identified with the First World War, sending soldiers into battle, raising morale in the trenches, and lamenting lives lost. Instruments played at the front were often improvised.
Through recordings and music scores, the exhibition explores the leading composers of the day, as well as the impact of jazz with the arrival of American troops in 1917.
Sound installations are used to recapture the noise of the battlefield, where the rattle, loud-hailer and telephone became vital means of communication amid the cacophony of artillery and machine-gun fire.
Information & images supplied by the Historial Museum of the Great War, Péronne
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News