"The music of the Incans was inspired, in greatest part, by teeming variety of mysterious sounds of nature about them.  And, as Incan maidens have done for centuries before her, Yma Sumac has wandered through forests of the upper Amazon, listening to their waking life, and calling to the creatures in imitative cries.  That is the music of Chuncho, the wild, unearthly sounds of monkeys, jackals, and especially a fantastic host of colorful and chattering birds.  Yma Sumac's singing is climaxed by her phenomenal 'double-voiced' trill." (Liner notes, 1953 pressing)

We now come to the epitome of Yma's imitative art.  Program music in its purest form, this piece allowed Yma to exploit her imitative abilities to their maximum; essentially it was her primer of vocal effects.  "Chuncho!" is one of the few pieces Yma recorded that was performed the same way in public, which partly accounts for its popularity with audiences. The only difference between her recorded and live versions was in their timings.  Concert versions of "Chuncho!" generally lasted between seven and eight minutes, instead of the three and one-half minutes of this recording.  The two live versions of "Chuncho!" I have heard (1953 and 1961) offer the same staggering singing as this recording but with the addition of extra flights of fancy.  This 1953 recording, however, represents the best of what was offered to audiences.  The Capitol editors should be commended for their work, it is a very successful condensation of material - giving the piece a tight structure and making it more intensely climactic.  On stage, "Chuncho!" was Yma's longest selection.

"Chuncho!" was an unadulterated and unapologetic tour de force that was always placed in the last set of Yma's programs.  It was Yma's habit to perform this "sounds of nature" number in a green velvet gown symbolizing the verdant greenery of jungle rain forrests.  During the song, the only light in the concert hall was a spotlight that shown on her face.  When the piece was over, the spotlight was quickly extinguished leaving the audience and stage in complete darkness.  Without fail, there was first stunned silence from the audience, then pandemonium.  The lighting effect was Moises' brilliant idea.  "Chuncho!" was, however, always controversial and critics were divided.  Some felt it to be a fascinating, ethnic display, others thought it contrived, vulgar, and smelling strongly of the freak show at a circus tent.

There is no melody in this piece to speak of but rather a collection (or exhibition) of imitative sounds couched in a loose musical framework over the strumming of a guitar and an occasional contribution from quena and percussion.

Let me offer the reader/listener some advice.  "Chuncho!" is pure program music and it should be listened to in the dark, without any distractions, to receive the full impact of Yma's stunning vocalism.  If listened to in this way I guarantee you a trip to a far-away land of wild beasts, insects, exotic birds and winds.  Here is the full range of Yma's battery of effects paraded before the listener in a clever, but simple, manner.  Here are growls, snarls, whispers, tongue-trills, register breaks, placement and vibrato changes, lip flutters, voiceless consonants, quarter-tones, flights of bird-like high staccati, deep, pitchless rumblings and myriad tonal shadings all of which go to create the most startling selection ever recorded.

Although the copywriters of Capitol call Yma's climax to "Chuncho!" her 'double-voiced trill,' it is actually a clever use of a register break in the area of the A above high C that was at Yma's disposal.  She rapidly oscillates this break over the interval of a third, sustaining it and gradually growing until she caps the phrase with an ascent to a note somewhere between the C, or C sharp above high C, and then descends to more normal areas of the voice.  It is the most brilliant effect Yma ever recorded.

"Chuncho!" is very powerful and justifiably well known.  The New York Times Guide to Listening Pleasure noted that Peruvians often used "special - purpose music," one form of which was Animal sounds employed as a hunting lure.  This was elegantly utilized by the fabulous but real Yma Sumac...".  The result was judged "superb."