Benoît Chantry

Maldegem Centenary March

This piece was commissioned by the Royal Band of the Belgian Guides, who wished to celebrate in 2018 an important military event that took place 100 years earlier in Maldegem: the Burkel Charge. During the night of 18 to 19 October 1918, the German troops were forced to withdraw at Burkel, following an attack led by the 1st Regiment of Guides, which at that time still included cavalry (an optional cavalry trumpet section is also included). The episode is considered to have been a major factor in the liberation of Belgium at the end of the First World War. Despite its classical form, this march is unlike any other, since it mixes the festive character of the commemoration, the evocation of the battles, and the heroic character through a grandiose chorale.