Stevns (Denmark) (AFP)

Chamber orchestra for a parterre of cows: unable to perform during the pandemic, a cellist turned to this unusual audience, an experience so conclusive that he continues it even after the reopening of the performance halls.

"Playing for cows is a bit of a continuation of what I have always done in my career as a soloist: I am passionate about bringing classical music outside of concert halls", explains to the AFP Jacob Shaw, at the origin of the project.

Based in Stevns, in a green countryside an hour south of Copenhagen, the musician, professor at the Marshall Academy in Barcelona, ​​has created a cello school there and performs throughout the region.

"During the corona, of course, it was not always possible and we decided to move on to the second best thing: playing for animals", says the thirty-something.

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In the fall, he convinced a music-loving farmer to exhibit his animals, meat breeds, to classical music to improve their well-being.

"When he told me about it, I didn't find it crazy but rather exciting. I feel the calming effect of music on my own organism so I thought it would be the same for cows and I I was not mistaken, "assures Mogens Haugaard.

First familiar with a classical repertoire through the loudspeakers of their barn during the winter, the cows developed their ear and gradually became an audience of choice, assures the duo.

"Everyone could see from the first time that they liked it, so we continued. Now they get used to it and the result is that they are fantastically pleasant and healthy animals", assures the cellist. jack-of-all-trades, who also runs a music festival in Charente.

Does music soften the moo?

"They are calmer and more relaxed. They can be approached easily," explains Haugaard.

Cattle have their preferences, Jacob guarantees, a subtlety that may escape the layman.

"They react differently depending on the different songs, we played something that was slightly more catchy and a little more modern and a lot of them didn't like it and left," explains the tall blonde.

“I think the type of songs that are closest to their voice, to their roar, is actually similar to the sound of a cello, which is why he's so successful with them,” he says.

- Open-mindedness -

If he happens to come and play alone, the concert performer is often accompanied by one or more musicians who have come to spend a few days in his establishment, the Scandinavian Cello School, opened in 2016 to support virtuosos.

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According to Jacob, playing on a small platform in the open air in front of this unprecedented audience allows guests to relax.

"If they have the chance to play in front of the cows, I think it allows them to decompress and enjoy more of what they are doing."

Roberta Verna, a 22-year-old violinist, came to Stevns to "get another take on things that (him) opened my mind".

On a Stradivarius, the two artists made the duets of Reinhold Glière and Béla Bartok resonate in front of the ruminants, visibly as much moved by the beauty of the melody as by the distribution of food.

"It was a different situation than usual, but not worse. It was really interesting because they really listen. And they respect us", explains the young musician.

At the end of the fifteen-minute concert, the second of the day for the cattle, calves and heifers calmly snort in the pasture while waiting for the next recital, because for Jacob, there is no question of stopping in such a good way. path.

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"I think it will be very interesting in the next few years: their children and their children's children will grow up with classical music (...) the normality of a cow in this field is to listen music, ”he concludes.

© 2021 AFP