Rondador (panpipe) is one of the oldest instruments played in Latin America. It is a wind instrument made of condor feathers, bamboo and cotton string. When played, its pure sound echoes across the Andean mountain peaks where the condors fly.

A well-known folk song played with this instrument is “El Condor Pasa”.  In the original lyrics, an allegory is made to the condor flying high above in the sky as the symbol of freedom and dignity. As flying, he looks at the Andean miners working below and his flight becomes the miners’ aspiration for freedom and a dignified life.

Listen from Simon &Garfunkel on vinyl, from the 60s with the English title “If I Could”

June 8, 2019
Duygu Bruce