PERU: MUSIC FROM THE LAND OF MACHU PICCHU Recorded by Verna Gillis with David Moises Perez Martinez
Peru, the third largest country in Latin America, is where the indigenous population build one of the great pre-Columbian civilizations of America - the Empire of the Incas. The Inca Empire - 1438 to 1532 - extended from Quito, in Ecuador, to northern Chile in the south. Peru suffered one of the main waves of Spanish colonial conquest. Living and cultural patterns developed by the Spaniards were superimposed upon the indigenous population. During the early centuries of conquest, native dances and instruments were considered dangerous. The church fought the indigenous art on religious grounds. In 1614, the Archbishop of Lima mandated that all native musical instruments were to be burned.
Pre-Columbian Peru seems to have had an active musical life as judged from musical instruments excavated from prehistoric ruins. Panpipes, flutes whistles, rattles, bells and trum...
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