Tournaisiades

The Tournaisiades is an annual music festival for wind bands and fanfare bands that takes place in Doornik (Tournai). In 1988 André Waignein was a guest there and wrote this piece for the occasion of the closing concert where all particpants performed together. The composition consists of three parts: In the first part "Royal City" Rita Defoort refers to the distant past. When in 431 the Salic Franks conquered our regions, their king Chlodio settled in Doornik, where thus the Merovingic Royal house originated. The music sounds full and solemn because of the continuous alternation with fanfares with a more flowing melody. After Clovis left Doornik, it took until the 12th Century before the city overcame its illustrious past with the building of the Roman Cathedral. In the second part "Cathedral and the Scheldt" the image is pictured of the most important building in the city. An imitation of the Big Ben bells leads us towards the main melody, supported by a swaying accompaniment, representing the soft splashing of the Scheldt water against the quay. The main melody is then incorporated in a canonic way, a nice musical illustration of the Cathedral and its reflection in the Scheldt water. The townscape is also characterized by a second high tower, the Belfort. In the final part Rita Defoort summarizes the atmosphere of the previous parts, using existing and new melodies