Paran Mañakuy (Pedido de lluvia)

About "Paran mañakuy"

This piece is inspired by an Ayarachi ritual-music-dance that I heard in the area of Paratía (Puno, Peru), very close to Lake Titikaka. It is performed only with quenas and very high female voices that imitate the screams of a llama, in total there are 9 performers: 5 quenas and 4 voices.

The ritual is used for the fertility and growth of cattle. Paratia means “the place where the rain lives.” This song is performed in the dry season, therefore, it seems to be an almost agonizing and painful request for rain.

“Paran mañakuy” is a Quechua ritual to crave for rain. The descending-glissandi, especially in the winds, must maintain this spirit of crave and invocation to heaven for the rain.