Eugène and Théo Ysaye on the front lines

When World War One broke out, Eugène Ysaye was deeply distressed. After starting at the Berlin concert and playing there for such a long time, he could not understand all this carnage. A refugee in England, he lost all his property, while his three sons were engaged on the front lines. On 16 June 1916, he and his brother Théo, a pianist, returned to De Panne at the request of Queen Elizabeth and spent several weeks visiting trenches and cantonments. Meeting with ordinary soldiers, they offered them comfort through their music. During one of these visits, before a concert, Eugène delivered this speech to the soldiers, most of whom were close to death:

“Soldier friends,

"Many of you are wondering what I'm going to play and I can see some concern on your faces. They fear what they see as a kind of scarecrow: classical music, which they might like to understand but which seems to them an indecipherable language and, in any case, unbearable to their ears. They would probably prefer that I play what we call in Brussels "dontjes" (blare). This reassures them all. What I will play is simply music, without any other adjectives.

"You (...) whose sensitivity has developed through daily contact with death, I wonder why you would be unable to resonate with beauty. Do not believe, my children, that one needs to be more specially prepared, cultivated or educated to experience the deep sensations of music in what is purest, most beautiful and highest. Consider this: music does not understand; it feels. Is it not an emanation of the heart and soul of the people that you magnify so splendidly by your sacrifice? Is it not the supreme hope of the great universal reconciliation that will prevent the return of the horrors you endure?

"Also I want to play for you what is beautiful, because I respect you and I love you..."

Taken from the book: BENOIT-JEANNIN, M., Eugène Ysaye, Le dernier romantique ou le sacre du violon (The last romantic or the coronation of the violin), biography, Brussels-Paris, 1989, The Cry/Pierre Belfond, 1989.

Joël Tiberghien