Abstract
The commemorations of the First World War in Belgium encouraged the creation of singular musical works such as Lament, Ypres or Shell Shock, a requiem of war, opera around the post-traumatic syndrome suffered by the combatants. The Berlin experimental group Einstürzende Neubauten and its frontman Blixa Bargeld designed Lament after a commission from the West Flemish government for the commemoratives in West Flanders. This album was produced in the studio, then world premiered in Dixmude on November 8, 2014. The group then toured Europe and Australia until 2018, with around 30 dates. Although this choice of a German band may seem embarrassing to some Belgian critics, the album includes a significant amount of research work and combines noise expertise with historical sound archives from the First World War. This article aims to study the contributions of the musicians, the stakes of a commissioned work and the expectations of the public.