The city of Cuzco, Peru is home to a number of indigenous peasant communities. Much of their music continues to be associated with fertility rites and to mark agrarian cycles, but the Spanish introduced guitars, mandolins, and other instruments that the indigenous peoples adapted and blended into their ancestral music. The songs are sung in Quechua.

The liner notes, in English and French, provide information about the geography of the region, the history of its inhabitants, local rituals involving music, and especially the musical instruments heard on the recording.

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Please enjoy a free download of the song “Punch’ay qhashwa”

This album is part of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. More than 125 albums are being released by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to make the series publicly available, including a dozen never-released albums of musical traditions from around the globe.

Track Listing