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In Memoriam, Ariel Ramirez: September 4, 1921 – February 18, 2010

Feb. 26, 2010

On February 18, the Argentine composer and pianist Ariel Ramirez passed away in Buenos Aires. A true icon of South American concert music of the 20th century, Ramirez is best known for his composition Misa Criolla. Written in 1963-1964, the work was one of the first widely-recognized masses in a contemporary language and is based on traditional Argentine folk genres utilizing Andean influences and instruments.

Recorded by Phillips in 1964 and premiered in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1967, its popularity helped to spread South American concert music and solidify its place in the standard repertoire. “I felt that I had to compose something deep and religious that would revere life and involve people beyond their creeds, race, color, or origin,’’ the composer said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post.

Born on September 4, 1921 in Santa Fe, Argentina, Ramirez first studied tango and then, most notably, Argentine folk music under the tutelage of his mentor, the folklore musician Atahualpa Yupanqui. Ramirez would go on to collect 400 South American folk songs and form the Compañía de Folklore, doing for Latin American folk music what Hungarian composer Béla Bartók did for the folk tradition in Eastern Europe.

Visit www.arielramirez.com for more on the life and works of Ariel Ramirez.

To rent performance materials for Ariel Ramirez' Misa Criolla, please contact rental @eamdllc.com.

Ariel Ramirez
Misa Criolla (1965)
for chorus, guitar, percussion and double bass
13'

Navidad Nuestra (1965)
for chorus, guitar and percussion
33’

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