Viracocha

 

VIRACOCHA

LEGENDARY MUSIC OF THE ANDES

Lyrichord,  1974, LLST 7264

This is one of the albums Lyrichord didn't think necessary to include to its download site. This recording was made in the field by J.F. Sheppard in 1972 and 1973 in Peru. The presentation text gives some information about the history of the Incas but very little about the music itself.
It seems that some of the tracks were recorded during cultural events at Cuzco. There are bands of musicians with kena, guitare, violin, mandolin and harp as well as harp solo and an small pipe organ built by a Quechua farmer and tuned to the oldest organ in South America in Cuzco Cathedral.
Track A7 is a bit of a surprise with a Hopi hunting song; nothing is said about the presence of some Northern Indian singers but links between Andean and Native American people were part of a will to highlight the rich culture of the American aborigenes from the Bering Strait  to the Tierra del Fuego. A big feast and show called Inti Raymi is held every year in June to revive the Inca empire with historical reconstruction in the ancient capital of the empire. I suppose that some of the music was recorded there by Sheppard. 

 

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