The purpose of this research is to examine the historical, technical and social significance of the bipolar siku of Peru, particularly as regards the projection of Peruvian panpipe orchestras in the culture of Peru and of the world at large. The plan of the research will be to set forth a technical description in musical terms of the siku and a positioning of the instrument from a historical perspective, and then to discuss the sociocultural implications of Andean music in modern Peruvian society, as well as the symbolic characteristics of the instrument in respect of sundry sikuri traditions, functions, and most important cultural meanings.
The siku (also sicu), is a variety of Peruvian panpipe used by indigenous peoples of the southern Colla (also Aymara) group in the region of oruru.1 This region is part of the Collao Altiplano, also called Altiplano, which is an Andean plateau that extends over part of Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. It takes in Lake Titicaca, the northern and western shores of which are situated in Peru.
Panpipe is the name given to a primitive wind instrument, typically a reed or cane instrument, that comprises "a series of hollow pipes of graduated length, the tones being produced by blowing across the upper ends."2 The cane medium is most typical in the modern period, although pre-Columbian archeology shows that pipes and flutes of varying styles were constructed of clay, shell, and bone.3 Panpipe styles that are in modern use have their provenance in pre-Columbian cultures, and although they appear to be constructed exclusively of reeds, there remain several variations in style. For example, the number of tubes often ranges three to fourteen; some pipes have beveled resonators, while others do not.
The siku appears to be associated generically with "the most characteristic types of Aymara music,"4 which are instrumental and said to be based on a five-tone or pentatonic scale, although it...