Luis Humberto Salgado
Introduction '''Luis Humberto Salgado''' (1903 Cayambe - 1977 Quito) was an Ecuadorian composer. He was regarded as one of the most influential and prolific composers of his country.
Biography He was taught by his father, the composer Francisco Salgado, a former student of the Italian composer Domenico Brescia (who championed nationalism in Chile and Ecuador before permanently settling down in the USA). During the 1920s, Salgado made a living as a pianist for silent films in Quito. He later he worked as a critic, teacher, and choir and orchestra conductor; he also was director of the National Conservatory of Music in Quito.In his essay ''Música vernácula ecuatoriana (Microestudio)'', published in 1952 in ''Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana'', he expresses his thoughts about the creation of a national form. For example, he replaced the classical symphonic pattern (Allegro - Larghetto - Allegretto Scherzo - Allegro Vivace) with a sequence of Ecuadorian folk dances:::'''Ecuadorian Symphony'''::I ''Sanjuanito''::II ''Yaraví''::III ''Danzante''::IV ''Albazo'', ''Aire típico'' or ''Alza''Luis Humberto Salgado was the leading figure of his generation. His symphonic suite ''Atahualpa'' (1933), his ''Suite coreográfica'' (1946), the ballets ''El amaño'' (1947), and ''El Dios Tumbal'' (1952) and other works show strong nationalistic feeling. Salgado also wrote two operas, ''Cumandá'' (1940, rev. 1954); ''Eunice'' (1956-7) that were never produced. Salgado was not an exclusively nationalist composer, as the varied style of his eight symphonies shows. In his later years, he even relied on atonality and tried his hand at 12-note composition. – Béhague, Gerard. 2001."Ecuador. Art Music"Though only two of his operas are mentioned in most music literature, he composed another two, together with nine symphonies, several concertos, several ballets. He was both a nationalist and a modernist composer. As early as 1944, he wrote ''Sanjuanito Futurista'' for piano, using the rhythm of a traditional Ecuadorian dance within the dodecaphonic writing style. He was in his early forties when he started experimenting with new techniques but was not acknowledged as a modernist until later in his life.
Compositions '''List''' Year  Work  Description 1933  '''''Atahualpa o el ocaso de un Imperio''''' (symphonic band)  orchestra 1934  '''''Ensueño de amor'''''  operetta 1936  '''''Canto de Libertad'''''  ballet 1937  '''''Andante'''''  for violin & orchestra orchestra 1940 (rev. 1954)  '''''Cumandá'''''  opera 1941  '''''La consagración de las vírgenes del sol''''' - Concerto for piano & orchestra  orchestra 1944  '''''Sanjuanito futurista''''' (micro dance for piano) solo (piano) 1944  '''''Cantata amerindia'''''  vocal 1945  '''''Alma nativa'''''  vocal 1947  '''''El Páramo''''' (Preludio Andino-Ecuatoriano)  1947  '''''Alejandría la pagana''''', melodrama  orchestra 1946  '''''Suite coreográfica'''''  ballet 1947  '''''El Amaño'''''  ballet 1947  '''''Qué lindo es el cariño''''' (sanjuanito) song 1947  '''''Quiteño de Quito''''' (pasacalle)  song 1948  '''''Concierto fantasía en estilo nacional''''' for piano & orchestra orchestra 1948  '''''Variaciones en estilo folclórico''''' orchestra 1949  '''''Día de Corpus''''' opera-ballet 1949  '''Symphony No. 1, "Andina"''' in G minor (revised in 1972 and renamed ''Sinfonía de ritmos vernaculares'')  orchestra 1949  '''''Sismo''''' (symphonic poem) orchestra 1950  '''''Pieza característica'''''  orchestra 1952  '''''El Dios Tumbal'''''  ballet 1953  '''''Concierto para violín y orquesta''''' in E Major orchestra 1953  '''Symphony No. 2, "Sintética (No. 1)""''', in D minor orchestra 1955  '''Symphony No. 3, "Sobre un Tema Rococó: A-D-H-G-E"''', in D Major  orchestra 1955  '''''Danzas ecuatorianas for flute and orchestra'''''  flute and orchestra 1957  '''''Symphony No. 4, "Ecuatoriana"''''', in D Major  orchestra 1957  '''''Eunice'''''  opera 1958  '''Symphony No. 5, "Neo-Romántica"'''  orchestra 1959  '''''Homenaje a la danza criolla''''' (symphonic poem)  orchestra 1961  '''''Aidita'''''  vocal 1961  '''''El Centurión''''' opera 1963  '''Concerto for Piano and Harp Obbligato'''  orchestra 1966  '''''Misa Solemne in D major''''' (in five movements) choir & orchestra 1966  '''''Misa Solemne''''' (in four movements choir & orchestra 1968  '''Symphony No. 6''' string orchestra and timpani 1968  '''Concerto for French Horn and Orchestra'''  orchestra 1969  '''''Suite ecuatoriana'''''  orchestra 1969  '''''Ferviente anhelo''''' (pasillo) song 1970  '''Symphony No. 7''' in E minor (dedicated to the bicentennial of Beethoven’s birth)  orchestra 1971  '''''El Tribuno'''''  opera 1972  '''Symphony No. 8''', in E minor (dedicated to the sesquicentennial of the Battle of Pichincha  orchestra 1975  '''Concerto for Cello and Orchestra'''  orchestra 1976  '''Ecuadorian Concerto for guitar and orchestra'''  orchestra 1977  '''Symphony No. 9, "Sintética (No. 2)"''', in D Major orchestra
Discography * ''The nine symphonies'' (3 CDs) by the Cuenca Symphony orchestra conducted by Michael Meissner* ''Piano Music by Ecuadorian Composers''  CD. Piano: Alex Alarcon Fabre, :::::Brindis por la peaña (alza) (Luis Humberto Salgado):::::Nocturnal (pasillo) (Luis Humberto Salgado):::::Other works by: Gerardo Guevara, Corsino Duran, Claudio Aizaga, Juan Pablo Muñoz Sanz''Souvenir de l'Amérique du Sud'' (CD) (piano, Marcelo Ortiz, works by: Gerardo Guevara, Sixto María Durán and Miguel Ángel Casares):* I. Amanecer de trasnochada (pasillo) - Luis H. Salgado:* Brindis al pasado (pasillo) - Luis H. Salgado:* II. Romance nativo (sanjuanito) - Luis H. Salgado:* VI. Nocturnal (pasillo) - Luis H. Salgado
Writings * Salgado, Luis H. ''Música vernácula ecuatoriana (Microestudio)'', published in 1952 by ''Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana''* Salgado, Luis H. ''Proyecciones de la música contemporánea'', published in September 1960 by Ritmo, Madrid, Spain.
References * Apel, Willi. Harvard Dictionary of Music, Harvard University Press, 1969, p. 253. * Béhague, Gerard. 2001."Ecuador. Art Music". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers; New York: Grove's Dictionaries of Music. * Bull, Storm ''Index to biographies of contemporary composers''. New York: Scarecrow Press, 1964, p. 405* Composers of the Americas Biographical data and catalog of their works Volume 4.Washington, D.C.: ''Secretaria General, organizacion de los Estados Americanos'', 1958. * ''Chronological catalog of the works of the Ecuadorian composer Luis H. Salgado'' Boletin interam. mus., no.1 (Sep 1957), p. 45-50* ''Diccionario de la música española e hispanoamericana'' (DMEH). Published by S''ociedad General de Autores y Editores'' (SGAE) and ''Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música'' (INAEM) from the Spanish ''Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte''. * Pérez Pimentel, Rodolfo. In: Diccionario Biográfico del Ecuador, Guayaquil 1987. * Robijns, Jozef; Zijlstra, Miep. ''Algemene muziek encyclopedie'' hoofdred., J. Robijns en Miep Zijlstra. Haarlem: De Haan, 1979-1984* Rosner, Helmut; Bulling, Burchard; Frank, Paul; Noetzel, Florian. ''Kurzgefasstes Tonkunstler Lexikon'' Fortfuhrt von Burchard Bulling, Florian Noetzel, Helmut Rosner Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichshofen, 1974.Note: Zweiter Teil: Erganzungen und Erweiterungen seit 1937* Slonimsky, Nicolas. ''Music of Latin America''. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1945, p. 374. * Walker, John L. "The Younger Generation of Ecuadorian Composers", ''Latin American Music Review'' University of Texas- Volumen 22, Número 2, Fall 2001. * Morris, Mark. ''The Pimlico Dictionary of Twentieth Century Composers''. Pimlico, 1999. * Stevenson, Robert. "Quito". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', second edition. * Opus, no. 31.Issue dedicated to Luis H. Salgado. Edited by Arturo Rodas. Central Bank of Ecuador . Quito, January 1989. * ''Luis H. Salgado'' in ''Grandes Compositores Ecuatorianos'', edited by Pablo Guerrero G.  CONMUSICA. Quito. January 2001. * Wong Cruz, Ketty. ''Luis H. Salgado, un Quijote de la música''. Central Bank of Ecuador & ''Casa de la Cultura Ecuatoriana Benjamín Carrión''. 2004.
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External links *  Edufuturo * *  La Música en el Ecuador, Mario Godoy Aguirre