Hector Ayala – Selected Works for Guitar | Edited by Rico Stover – Strings By Mail

Hector Ayala – Selected Works for Guitar

 

We are honored to have a guest article by Rico Stover, well known for his five decade career primarily focused Latin and South American music, and 2013 recipient of the Guitar Foundation of America’s lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. Strings By Mail is also fortunate to carry many selections of Rico Stover’s music and his fingernail products.

 

Introduction by Rico Stover:

The music of Latin America is a treasure house and one of the priceless gems in that treasure chest is the music of Hector Ayala. I encountered his music in Buenos Aires in 1967 on my first visit to Argentina. Just as I was struck by the works of Barrios as an important part of the guitar repertoire that needed recognition, I also came to regard the works of Ayala in a similar light. The balance of guitar technique with delightful melodic/harmonic ideas composed with folklorick forms and rhythms has resulted in music of great importance for the guitar repertoire. To help bring Ayala’s music greater exposure and appreciation I have published Selected Works for Guitar of Hector Ayala

 

Hector Ayala - Selected Works for Guitar

Hector Ayala – Selected Works for Guitar

 

Hector Ayala

(1914 – 1990)

 Hector Ayala was born April 11, 1914 in Concordia, a small town in the Province of Entre Rios in Argentina.  He lived most of his adult life in the cosmopolitan city of Buenos Aires where he played in tango orchestras.  He was also a member of Abel Fleury’s large guitar ensemble known in the 1930’s and 40’s as the “Escuadrón de Guitarras” (the “Guitar Squadron” which was made up of about 30 guitarists and regularly presented radio broadcasts).

Ayala wrote exclusively for guitar and dedicated a great deal of time to teaching and publishing many solo pieces as well as a method for classical guitar in four volumes (through Editorial Aromo which he cofounded in 1962).  An enthusiastic lover of Latin American folk music, the majority of Ayala’s works are based on folkloric song and dance forms from Argentina as well as Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.

Ayala’s works have been performed and recorded by many professional concert guitarists, including Eduardo Falú, Jorge Morel, Manuel Lopez Ramos, Irma Costanzo, Narciso Yepes and Timothy Walker.  Ayala’s reputation has steadily grown over the years to the point where he is now appreciated as one of the finest of the “folk inspired guitarist/composers” from Argentina.

The Selected Works for Guitar of Hector Ayala is a delightful collection of South American music ranging in difficulty from easy to virtuosic.  Featuring a cross section from his published works, this is the first time Ayala’s music has been published outside of Argentina in anthological format and my hope is that this volume will prove useful not only to advanced players but also to students and teachers who wish to expand their knowledge and repertoire of Latin American music for guitar.

 

Richard “Rico” Stover

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