Ramírez is known primarily for his Misa Criolla (1964). It allowed him to travel around Europe and Latin America to build his reputation. He had more than 300 compositions during his career and sold millions of albums. By the time he died in 2010, his work was globally renowned.Plácido Domingo, José Carreras and Mercedes Sosa are some of the artists to have recorded his work. He was also associated with Miguel Brascó and Felix Luna.
Ariel Ramírez was born in Santa Fe, Argentina. His father was a teacher and it had been thought Ramírez would also pursue this career path but the job lasted for just two days due to "discipline problems".He pursued initially tango before switching to Argentine folklore. He began his piano studies in Santa Fe, and soon became fascinated with the music of the gauchos and creoles in the mountains. He continued his studies in Córdoba, where he met the great Argentinian folk singer and songwriter Atahualpa Yupanqui and was influenced by him. Following a suggestion from Yupanqui, he visited the North East of Argentina and deepened his research into the traditional rhythms of South America. He spent time in Mendoza and Buenos Aires. At the same time continuing his academic studies as a composer at the National Conservatory of Music, in Buenos Aires. In 1946 he made his first recording, with RCA. He made twenty records with RCA until 1956.
Ramírez went on to study classical music in Madrid, Rome and mainly in Vienna, from 1950 to 1954. Back in Argentina, he collected over 400 folk and country songs and popular songs and founded the Compañía de Folklore Ariel Ramírez.
Ramírez married Inés Cuello de Ramirez. Together they had two sons.
In 1964, the Ramírez' composition Misa Criolla marked the beginning of a period of high musical productivity for the composer which also heralded the premieres of the works Navidad Nuestra (1964), La Peregrinación (1964); Los caudillos (1965); Mujeres Argentinas (1969), and Alfonsina y el Mar (1969), all produced in collaboration with writer Félix Luna. Misa Criolla was an early non-Latin Masses post-Second Vatican Council.[2][5] The Washington Post described Misa Criolla as "a stunning artistic achievement, combined Spanish text with indigenous instruments and rhythms".[5] It led to album sales numbering in the millions internationally.[5] Ramírez once told The Jerusalem Post how Misa Criolla was inspired by a visit to Germany after World War II.[5] While there he had an encounter with a group of nuns, which led him to consider writing "a spiritual piece". This would eventually become the Misa Criolla.[5]
Misa Criolla and Alfonsina y el Mar are probably his best known compositions. The Misa, a mass for either male or female soloists, chorus and orchestra, is based on folk genres such as chacarera, carnavalito and estilo pampeano, with Andean influences and instruments. It is also one of the first masses to be celebrated in a modern language following the lifting on their ban by the Second Vatican Council. Ramírez wrote the piece in 1963–1964 and it was recorded in 1964 by Philips Records, directed by Ramírez himself with Los Fronterizos as featured performers (Philips 820 39 LP, including Navidad Nuestra, remastered in 1994 and released by Philips as CD 526155-2). It was not publicly performed until 1967 in Düsseldorf, Germany, during a European tour which eventually brought Ariel Ramírez before Pope Paul VI. His Mass for peace and justice (1981) is quite famous.[2] Equally famous are the recordings with the solo voices of George Dalaras (1989), José Carreras (1990), and Mercedes Sosa (1999). Plácido Domingo recorded the Kyrie (i.e., the first movement of the Misa) with Dominic Miller on guitar (2003).
Albeit not sharing the same worldwide success,[citation needed] Alfonsina y el Mar enjoys great popularity in Latin America and Spain, being one of the most regarded songs in Argentinian folk music. The piece pays homage to poet Alfonsina Storni, evoking her tragic suicide in 1938, when she walked into the sea at La Perla beach in Mar del Plata, and the poem she wrote as a goodbye message, I Am Going to Sleep. Artists of the stature of Mercedes Sosa, Violeta Parra, Alfredo Kraus and José Carreras (with Pasión Vega) have made recordings of the song, as well as many other popular singers including Shakira, Miguel Bosé, Andrés Calamaro and Paloma San Basilio.
Other major compositions by Ramírez include the Cantata Sudamericana (again with text by Félix Luna, 1972) and another mass: Misa por la paz y la justicia (with liturgical texts by Félix Luna and Osvaldo Catena, 1980). He had more than 300 compositions during his career. With Luna he created the Merecedes Sosa hits Mujeres Argentinas (Argentine Women), which documented women fighting for their freedom, and Cantata Sudamericana (South American Cantata).
Along with the Hamlet Lima Quintana, Ramírez also composed the music for Spanish film director Carlos Saura's TV film El Sur, which is based on the short story El Sur by Argentine author Jose Luis Borges.
Gloria
Ariel Ramírez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
En la alturas
En la tierra
Paz a los hombres
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
Gloria a Dios
En la alturas
En la tierra
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
Te alabamos
Te bendecimos
Te adoramos
Glorificamos
Te alabamos
Te bendecimos
Te adoramos
Glorificamos
Te damos gracias /te damos gracias
Por tu inmensa gloria
Gloria a Dios
En la alturas
En la tierra
Paz a los hombres
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
Gloria a Dios
En la alturas
En la tierra
Paz a los hombres
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
Te alabamos
Te bendecimos
Te adoramos
Glorificamos
Te alabamos
Te bendecimos
Te adoramos
Glorificamos
Te damos gracias /te damos gracias
Por tu inmensa gloria
Uh uh uh uh uh uh ...
Señor Hijo unico, Jesucristo
Señor Dios, Cordero de Dios, Hijo del Padre
Tu que quitas los pecados del mundo
Ten piedad de nosotros
Uh uh uh uh uh
Tu que quitas los pecados del mundo, atiende nuestras suplicas
Tu que reinas con el Padre, ten piedad de nosotros
De nosotros!!!
Gloria a Dios
En la alturas
En la tierra
Paz a los hombres
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
Gloria a Dios
En la alturas
En la tierra
Paz a los hombres
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
//Porque tú/ solo eres Santo .Porque tú/ solo Señor tu solo//
//Tú solo Altisímo Jesucristo//
//Con el Espiritu Santo//
En la gloria de Dios Padre
///Amén///
The song "Gloria" is a Christian hymn that praises God and asks for peace on earth among all men who love the Lord. The lyrics begin with "Gloria to God in the highest, peace to men on earth," reminding listeners of the angels' song of praise on the night of Jesus' birth as described in the Bible. The repetition of "Te alabamos, Te bendecimos, Te adoramos, Glorificamos" expresses the singers' devotion and worship to God. The lyrics then shift to a plea for God's mercy and forgiveness, as they address Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. They ask for His mercy, to hear their supplications and have pity on them. The song ends with a traditional Christian doxology, affirming the holiness and lordship of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with the word "Amen."
The song "Gloria" was composed by Argentine composer Ariel Ramírez in 1974, with lyrics by his frequent collaborator Félix Luna. It is part of a larger liturgical work called "Misa Criolla," which combined traditional Catholic masses with Latin American rhythms and instruments, and was celebrated as a symbol of Latin American cultural identity and spiritual expression. Ramírez and Luna wanted to create a work that could be understood and felt by ordinary people, so they used popular folk music styles from different regions of Argentina (such as chacarera and carnavalito) and added lyrics in Spanish instead of Latin. They also incorporated elements of native South American languages (such as Quechua and Aymara) to emphasize their connection to the land and the indigenous roots of Christianity in Latin America. "Misa Criolla" was a commercial and critical success, selling millions of copies and winning awards around the world. It also caused controversy among some conservative church officials, who objected to the use of folk music and vernacular language in a religious context.
Line by Line Meaning
Gloria a Dios
We give glory to God
En la alturas
In the heights of heaven
En la tierra
And on earth
Paz a los hombres
Peace to all men
Paz a los hombres/ paz a lo hombre que ama el Señor
Peace to all men/ peace to the man who loves the Lord
Te alabamos
We praise you
Te bendecimos
We bless you
Te adoramos
We adore you
Glorificamos
We glorify you
Te damos gracias /te damos gracias
We give you thanks/ we give you thanks
Por tu inmensa gloria
For your immense glory
Uh uh uh uh uh uh ...
Interlude
Señor Hijo unico, Jesucristo
Lord, only begotten Son, Jesus Christ
Señor Dios, Cordero de Dios, Hijo del Padre
Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father
Tu que quitas los pecados del mundo
You who take away the sins of the world
Ten piedad de nosotros
Have mercy on us
Tu que quitas los pecados del mundo, atiende nuestras suplicas
You who take away the sins of the world, hear our prayers
Tu que reinas con el Padre, ten piedad de nosotros
You who reign with the Father, have mercy on us
De nosotros!!!
From us!!!
Porque tú/ solo eres Santo .Porque tú/ solo Señor tu solo//
Because you alone are holy. Because you alone are Lord
Tú solo Altisímo Jesucristo//
You alone, Most High, Jesus Christ
Con el Espiritu Santo//
With the Holy Spirit
En la gloria de Dios Padre
In the glory of God the Father
///Amén///
Amen
Writer(s): Osvaldo Armando Catena, Jesus Gabriel Segade, Nacional de Las Artes Fondo, Alejandro Mayol, Ariel Ramirez
Contributed by Kayla O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@auroraherrera5728
Remisa Interpretación de nuestra misa Criolla❤️🇦🇷escuchar el coro es sentir el viento de los cerros que acaricia el rostro!!!!Gracias por esta version❤️❤️❤️🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
@rociorinaldi8312
I'm proud of being Argentine, and that this creation by Ariel Ramírez goes around the world!
@mvanbeers7498
I am thankful for this music is written. We are rehursing it for a concert in the Netherlands 2021.
@douglaspereira8518
Bravo! A masterpiece from Argentina! Aplausos desde o Brasil!
@bladst3r661
A few days ago Ramirez's mass was performed in Voronezh (Russia). I played the guitar part and this music is just incredible. It was very nice to play music like this.
@rociorinaldi8312
Un orgullo para mi país esta creación de Ariel Ramírez, viva Argentina!
@marcelamaneiro9495
La obra maestra del genial Ariel Ramirez comparto con vos el orgullo de ser argentina !!
@edithvasta1972
Un gran maestro de la música Argentina, su adaptación fue una inspiración que solo puede venir de Dios !!! Cada vez que la escucho se me pone la piel de gallina!!! Toda la gloria a Dios!!!
@m.9243
What a beautiful performance! Faces filled with joy and light! Thank You all for sharing this with people around the world.
@ekunsa
Except the lady in red behind the piano