Thierry Pécou and Ensemble Variances present a two-part program that immerses us in the origins of Martinique and the Americas, through a look at the civilizations that developed in the Caribbean before the 16th century, and a personal perspective on the painful legacy of slavery. This project draws on the spirit of the great Martinican writer Édouard Glissant in a story where tragedy also becomes a vehicle for a new poetic space, through relationships with others and their opacity. The clash of cultures becomes the possibility of a new and flourishing culture. Africa confronts Europe, writing meets oral tradition, one encounters the other "without losing oneself."

Earlier, archaeological remains reveal that the Arawak, Taíno, and Kalinago cultures left their mark on the Greater and Lesser Antilles through their unique rituals, far removed from the frightening stereotypes imposed by European perceptions.
These archaeological studies, the objects discovered, and the traces of their daily lives leave room for imagination to reconstruct a musical universe that undoubtedly accompanied the unfolding of their ceremonies.

This is what Thierry Pécou aims to achieve in a musical score that is both personal and inspired by our knowledge of Arawak societies. This new work will form the centerpiece of the program, alongside other pieces by Thierry Pécou related to Native American cultures. Manoa is inspired by the legends of El Dorado and is based on a song by the Goahibo Indians (Venezuela). Lolohi, composed for the baroque flute (traverso), evokes the wooden flutes of Amazonian cultures, and finally Passeurs d'eau is a long score evoking the essential rituals of various Amazonian cultures. We will hear excerpts evoking a funeral ritual and a childbirth ritual.

Like an echo connecting the past to the present, I can(’t) breathe for percussion, a piece composed in 2023 on the initiative of visual artist Jean-François Boclé, expresses the rage and revolt of Black people oppressed by colonial systems and their dark contemporary remnants, particularly in American society. It incorporates bèlè rhythms into a virtuoso and captivating composition that will close the concert.