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This Thursday, May 28, “An idea for France” takes you to Hauts de France to meet an orchestra which is embarking on an original tour. The “Forces Majeures” orchestra is made up of around twenty musicians, who have taken to the fields to bring classical music where it does not often go: in the villages. We followed them into the Oise.
This text corresponds to part of the transcription of the report above. Click on the video to watch it in its entirety.
“Our idea for France is to get closer to people, to connect them through music and cycling. To play and sing together. – And to offer free shows where people are.” It’s a funny caravan to bring music everywhere. The “Forces Majeures” orchestra travels by bike to share its passion with as many people as possible.
“We feel able to go wherever we want. If we intervene in school, we can arrive by pedaling to the schoolyard and immediately, within fifteen minutes, lead a workshop. It’s great”explains Robin Ducancel, director of the “Les Forces Majeures” orchestra.
From words to actions. In the schoolyard of a village of 1,000 inhabitants, they improvise a small open-air concert. In all, around twenty professional musicians, from classical and jazz backgrounds, to the great joy of elders, parents and children. Three generations gathered around a small symphony by Mozart. “I thought it was good, Mozart, you don’t see it every day,” comments a little boy. “It was a surprise, it’s true, Thiverny (Oise), it’s a small village, and knowing that you started with us, it’s great”rejoices a mother. “I am a classical music lover, so having a symphony orchestra with high-level people is simply happiness”adds a man, won over.
For Mattia Bornati, the assistant conductor, it is an opportunity to awaken a new interest in classical music: “I hope that it has created, maybe not vocations, we don’t care, but in any case the beauty, the sensation of discovering something new, that’s magnificent.”
And to carry all these instruments, you need good calves and a little ingenuity. “It was Robin who custom built it. I sent him a prototype of the cello”explains a musician from the orchestra, while storing the instrument in a wheeled transport box, attached to the back of the bike. “We acquire skills on each tour”laughs Félix. And the happy peloton sets off again towards the next concert. This week, he is traveling through the Creil region, in Oise. Eleven towns and villages where it does not go unnoticed. “There are around twenty musicians. The bike allows us to create a first contact. We perhaps first talk about cycling, routes, nature, etc. Then we come to talk about a Mozart symphony”explique Félix.
And in the crescendo, the musicians are struggling. Some instruments weigh more on the thighs. After a little sweat in this heatwave, they finally arrive at their destination. In Montataire, 14,000 inhabitants, they set up shop in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. They are joined by a group of dancers from the town’s high school. For them, it’s a unique experience: “They’re professionals. That’s a change!”wonders one of them. “It’s hyper framed, almost millimetered”completes another. Before the concert, a small workshop to learn the song On a bicycle. Everyone resumes in unison at the end of the show.
The Forces Majeures orchestra does not intend to stop shining. Next spring, he attacks the Alps.
