Violins from the Andes TUMI101
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About
Cuzco in Peru was not only the capital of the Incas, but also where two cultures, after years of bitter battle between Pisaro and the Inca army, gave way to a new culture often referred to as the mestizo culture. This was the mixing of the Spanish and the local indigenous blood, which affected not only their language and their food, but also their music.
Manuel Pillco Cuba came to Cuzco with his godmother in 1910 at the age of 6. His parents hoped he would find a better future there than in the village of Zurite where he was born. Cuzco was then a city of grand houses where people spoke mostly Quechua, the ancient language of the native Incas, and where they still clung to the traditions of the previous century,
Reynaldo Pillco Oquendo was born in 1934, the fourth of eight sons of Manuel Pillco. He began to learn the violin at the age of six, taught by his father, and accompanied him wherever he played. Thus he absorbed technique, style and the meaning of the music surrounding him. Reynaldo's unique and brilliant technique made him one of the most famous violin players in Peru.
The musical influence of the Pillco family did not stop there, but carried on into the next generation. At the age of eight, Enrique Pilco Paz began playing the violin with his father Reynaldo as well as helping him at the music school. He combined traditional musical elements with his own natural spontaneous style.
The two violins of father and son Reynaldo and Enrique Pilco and the harp of Alejandro Huaman Quispe play the beautiful melodies of the Andes - lively marinera dances, melancholic yaravís, cheerful huaynos - popular music created by the Bachs and Schuberts of the Americas.
The glorious music, played here with such integrity by Reynaldo and Enrique Pilco, testifies that the music that survived, and the new hybrid musics that have evolved truly embody the soul of the people.
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