Yanomamo


Peter and Anne have been writing choral music for over 30 years

and have become internationally renowned for their highly
successful environmental musicals which have been performed by
countless thousands of children throughout the world.


Yanomamo describes the crisis situation in the Amazon Basin, where rainforest trees are being felled for use as commercial timber, the land cleared for ranching, and thousands of peasants from Brazil's overcrowded cities arrive in search of a better life.

The Yanomami is the oldest Indian Tribe living in the forest. Unlike our own civilisation, which uses natural resources with little thought for the future. the Yanomami lead a way of life in harmony with nature which, undisturbed, would survive with the forest for the next twenty thousand years and more. The Indians' existence, and that of millions of animal and plant species, is threatened by the destruction of the trees and the arrival of the incomers.

Outsiders assume that the soil is permanently rich and expect that once the trees are cleared, the land will be very productive. But after two years, no crops will grow. Why? Because the richness of the jungle is in the trees, not in the soil.

The delicate balance of nature is being systematically removed, and soon the rainforests, which are crucial to the world's eco-system, will disappear together with the Indians and the wildlife.

Is there the time or the will to save them?

 


Instrumentation:
3 Flutes,  3/4 Bb Clarinets,   2 Alto Saxophones,  2 Tenor Saxophones
3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba
Electric Bass   Classical/Acoustic Guitar
Electric Keyboard,  (String) Synthesiser,  Piano
Timpani, Bass Drum, Drum Kit, Cymbals, Xylophone, Vibraphone,  Glockenspiel,   Tambourine,  
Maracas,   Cabasa,   Wood Block