The adventure started over thirty years ago when an air raid siren fell into the hands of Franz Clochard. Realising the potential for the air raid siren to interpret the complete musical scale, Franz was hooked.
This was the start of a long, rich artistic journey: an amazing experience filled with surprising encounters.
This remarkable project combines 19th century invention and 21st century technology.
The only one of its kind, the Siren Orchestra is made up of seven musical sirens: a piccolo, two sopranos, two altos, a tenor and a bass.
The evolution of the orchestra has gone hand in hand with set design and the construction of staging devices which allow the orchestra to perform just about anywhere: ports, urban and industrial environments, on water, in UNESCO world heritage sites etc
Mécanique Vivante travels the globe with its unique Siren Orchestra and staging devices: cavalcading through town with the orchestra mounted on its two locomotives; perched at the top of the mast on sea-going vessels; installed around the public in parks and gardens; suspended in concert halls & theatres; and as of July 2024, floating down river and in lakes on Nénuphars.
Mécanique Vivante creates site- and event-specific installations with its orchestra and associated artists, its in-house composer
and a 25-year collaboration for theatrical lighting of the site by Pierre Wendels.
Percussion : Lucie Delmas
Opera singers : Fenna Ograjensek / Marylène Duprey, sopranos – Lien Haegman, mezzo
Tubes : Millie Dolan
Guitar : Eric Lorher
Chainsaw : Franz Clochard
Sirénium : Franz Clochard
Statuesque and graceful, the musician on her rotating stage strikes her tubes, setting the rhythm and hailing the Sirens into the public arena
Two divas lure the Sirens to come join them. There follows a mechanical ballet where the songstresses and their horns spin, creating Doppler effect & sending waves of song across the public.
Like the pendulum of a metronome six metres in the air, a foghorn sways from side to side. A guitarist appears. The foghorn sways as if inebriated until the guitarist performs; and then ends the sequence on a majestic, haunting note.
Usually hidden away at the back of the orchestra, orchestral tympani take centre stage. Borne high on her Nénuphar the virtuoso percussionist also plays temple block (1) crotales(2) and plate bells.
The grand return of the Flying Chainsaw which wowed audiences around the world in the famous circus Archaos – father of modern alternative circus. Like a real-life Spiderman, Franz Clochard flies 15 metres into the air on his chainsaw, triggering the Foghorn from the famous ocean liner France.
The Sirenium allows the maestro to improvise and solo on the Sirens, creating transitions and ambiance with the orchestra. He is joined by all the musicians for the final piece.
