Notice
Chikop was born of my daughter Danaé’s encounter with the poetry of Humberto Ak’abal. Humberto Ak’abal is a Maya Kiché Indian who lives in Momostenango, a village in Guatemala. A self-taught poet who grew up in poverty, he has developed a simple, sensitive style of poetry in his own language and in Spanish, with a conciseness and humor sometimes reminiscent of Japanese haikai. Over the past fifteen years, his reputation has spread beyond Spain’s borders. She has been invited to several European countries, and her poetry has been translated into several languages. We can only hope that it heralds the rebirth of a culture that has long been oppressed. What particularly touched me was his closeness to the sounds and rhythms of nature, and the sonorous beauty of his language (which many people are unaware is still very much alive). He gave me permission to use the recordings of his own voice, and to translate some of his poems from their Spanish text into French.
Comment
During a stay in Guatemala, my daughter discovered the Indian poet Umberto Ak’abal, and she brought me back a record on which he himself recorded a selection of his poems, sometimes in Spanish, sometimes in Mayan. I was won over by his concise, evocative poetry, by his voice and language, and by his sensitivity to birdsong, which he imitates on occasion.
I managed to contact him in his small village of Momostenango, and to obtain permission to use some of his recordings musically. In Chikop, we hear his spoken voice alternating with some of his poems sung in French.
The instrumental writing derives entirely from the rhythms and inflections of maya-kiché. Françoise Kubler created the work, and for once I invited her to sing in French. The twelve short poems make up a highly diversified suite. Although, as is my custom, I paid the greatest attention to the sound aspect of this poetry, I also took into account the mood of each of them, striving to marry sound and meaning musically.
Instrumentation
Fl. (also picc.), Clar. (aussi b.clar.), soprano, piano, 1 perc. (marimba, vibraphone…), 1 V., 1 Vc.First performance
9.21.04, Strasbourg, Musica, Accroche Note