The jazz of inter-war America is another such example. Such is the case in East Asia, which many relate to the pentatonic scale, or the buzzing didgeridoo of Aboriginal Australia. Many times, the mere thought of a foreign region immediately brings to mind the strains of that culture’s music. It is one of the most instantaneously recognizable defining elements of a culture. Though a shot in the dark, for Colonel Fawcett, that was enough.Īlthough rarely a life or death matter, music holds great importance in almost every known historical and modern society. Yet, through music, Fawcett realized that he had a chance for peace.

Here were two completely different groups of people whose lives and circumstances dictated that they must be enemies. The point of my discourse is to emphasize the importance of music as a worldwide cultural phenomenon. Fawcett then urged the rest of the party to sing as if their lives depended upon it. Reluctant to return fire, the desperate colonel ordered one of his men to produce his accordion and play as if he were “passing a jolly hour in an English pub.” The soldier promptly followed orders. His attempt was met with only more projectiles. Fawcett, accustomed to thinking on his feet, attempted a dialogue with the natives in their own language. The natives, who at first mirrored Fawcett’s astonishment, soon took up arms and released volley after volley of arrows at the small flotilla. On this occasion, Fawcett’s party rounded a bend in the river and was startled to find a native village. It was Fawcett’s lot in life that his expeditions would encounter hostile elements, both natural and human, frequently. Working on the pretense of geographical expedition, Fawcett spent his time in the jungle searching for mythical lost cities and native gold. By this time, Fawcett had spent years exploring South America. The party was led by Colonel Percival Fawcett, a man who found the trappings of Victorian society deplorable.

In 1910, deep in the jungle-rivers of South America, paddled a small European survey expedition of Great Britain’s Royal Geographical Society. It was the turn of the 20th century and much of the world had only been explored to a superficial extent.

Lion roar audio