Four-Octave Inca

When a noted musicologist lured her away to school in Lima, 30,000 outraged Indian sun-worshipers made the Andes echo with their wrath. Because of her weird, wonderful voice and her Inca ancestry, they considered her sacred, calling her Intypa Wawan, Daughter of the Sun.

This exotic build-up has provoked some hard-boiled U.S. critics to the unworthy comment: "Another Brooklyn Inca?" But their suspicions probably are unfounded. Yma seems well documented. The composer Manuel de Falla took note of her; the late Grace Moore made her a protégé. More to the point, the ballyhoo about her voice is just as extravagant as the story of her origin, and it, at least, is perfectly true.

Basso-Soprano

Yma Sumac. From the Andes to Hollywood is uphill all the way.

Paradoxically, this may be why she had slow going in the U.S. Not much music has been written to exploit voices like hers. Hence she stuck to Peruvian folk music - and promptly was "typed" as a purveyor of ethnic musical oddities. It took two years to live this down.

Now that she has done so, nightclubs, radio and concert managers are on her trail. So is Hollywood, where sharp-eyed scouts noticed that Yma has assets which have nothing to do with music but which would look well in a sarong.

Meanwhile, Sumac-addicts will have to get along on a new record called The Voice of the Xtabay (Capitol 10" LP), in which Yma sings eight ancient Peruvian songs. If they can find a copy of it, that is - the first batch sold out in a week.