Karthala was conceived for a specific request concerning a district of Marseille where Comorians live. Salim Hatubou is one of the champions of this region of the Indian Ocean. I had the opportunity to fly over this great Island during my trips to Reunion Island for the realization of “Baiser de Terre”, a great musical fresco linked to Reunion Island, which was one of my most significant achievements. The African influence is very present in “Karthala”, which inspired me to call upon African polyphonies in the superimposition of musical structures. Karthala is the name of the volcano that dominates this region, a terrifying power that induces the social movements of this region. It is interesting to note that contemporary music is linked to references other than the West (the era of a very western and centralized contemporary music is over); contemporary music opens up to the spaces of the planet geographically, historically, sociologically, and it is in this sense that I hope to have been able to respond to this request, which is linked to a working-class district of Marseille, a city of welcome on the Mediterranean and well beyond… Paris or Marseille, the North or the South, a vast and different human space… I recently responded to a proposal for Lithuania which included the Ukrainian anthem, we were hosted on the banks of the Niemen River, with Russia opposite… it was a request from a team of musicians linked to the Lutheran Church in Lithuania. This means that it seems important to me that the musical space joins the different human spaces, that of the whole planet… a form of ecumenism in a way… it is in this sense that this Karthala project interested me greatly in the framework of a city that I particularly like, Marseille…

François Rossé