Long before Spanish explorers arrived at the western edge of South America, the rugged regions of Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile bordered by the Andes Mountains were home to native Inca tribes that defined traditional Andean folk music.
After the colonial period, the charango and the ronroco, small 10-string instruments derived from the early Spanish guitar called the vihuela, became popular. Today they dominate the genre, along with the quena — an end-blown reed flute, and the antara — a semi-circular panpipe with an airy tone that sounds brilliant in the high mountain air.
Andean music grew exponentially during the “World Music” trend of the 1970s and 80s, spawning hundreds of new groups, collaborations, and popular songs, while Harawi, an ancient traditional genre with slow, soulful, melodic songs played on the quena, shared an audience with New Age music. Those days are gone, but the genre has gained renewed attention in the 21st century from its use in major film scores by GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA and others.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, new Andean music by GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA, AUKAI, JORGE ALFANO, OSCAR REYNOLDS, and AL LETHBRIDGE — inspired by the folk sounds of the high Andes plateau, on a program called “ALTIPLANO 3.”