Daniel Ayala Pérez (21 July 1906 – 20 June 1975) was a Mexican

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist, conductor, and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Biography

Ayala was born in Abalá,

Yucatán Yucatán (, also , , ; yua, Yúukatan ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Yucatán,; yua, link=no, Xóot' Noj Lu'umil Yúukatan. is one of the 31 states which comprise the political divisions of Mexico, federal entities of Mexico. I ...

, and studied violin with Revueltas and composition with Chávez,

Manuel M. Ponce Manuel María Ponce Cuéllar (8 December 1882 – 24 April 1948) was a Mexican composer active in the 20th century. His work as a composer, music educator and scholar of Mexican music connected the concert scene with a mostly forgotten traditio ...

, Vicente T. Mendoza, Candelario Huízar and

Julián Carrillo Julián Carrillo Trujillo (January 28, 1875 – September 9, 1965) was a Mexican composer,Camp, Roderic Ai (1995). "Carrillo (Flores), Nabor" on ''Mexican Political Biographies, 1935–1993: Third Edition'', p. 121. . conductor, violi ...

at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música,

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

from 1927 to 1932. For a time he earned his living playing in the night club Salón México, a locale later celebrated in a well-known composition by

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

. In 1934 he formed, together with fellow composers Salvador Contreras,

Blas Galindo Blas Galindo Dimas (February 3, 1910 – April 19, 1993) was a Mexican composer. Biography Born in San Gabriel, Jalisco, Galindo studied intermittently from 1931 to 1944 at the National Conservatory in Mexico City, studying with Carlos Chávez ...

and

José Pablo Moncayo José Pablo Moncayo García (June 29, 1912 – June 16, 1958) was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican national ...

, the "Group of Four" -- "Grupo de los cuatro." From 1931 he was a second violinist in the Orquesta Sinfónica de México under Chávez, and directed a choir in Morelia for two years, but in 1940 returned to his native Yucatán to accept an appointment as conductor of the Police Band in Mérida. In 1942 he founded the Orquesta Típica Yukalpetén, which performs compositions by Yucatecan composers of the past and present. In 1944 he became conductor of the newly reorganized Mérida Symphony Orchestra and director of the Yucatán Conservatory. In 1955 he moved to Veracruz to take up the directorship of the school of music there, and also worked for the Veracruz Institute of Fine Arts. He died in 1975 in

Xalapa Xalapa or Jalapa (, ), officially Xalapa-Enríquez (), is the capital city of the Mexican state of Veracruz and the name of the surrounding municipality. In the 2005 census the city reported a population of 387,879 and the municipality of which ...

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

Compositions

As a composer, Ayala's first major success was with a symphonic poem, ''Uchben X'coholte'' (1933), whose title means "In an Ancient Cemetery" in the

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

language. His most ambitious work is the ballet ''El Hombre Maya'' (The Mayan Man), but the symphonic poem ''Tribu'' (1934) is perhaps his best-known work, thanks to a recording made in 1956 by the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional under Luís Herrera de la Fuente (Musart 3-LP set MCDC 3033, included on the single disc ''Viva México!'' released in the USA on Capitol T-10083). After 1944 his conducting and administrative duties occupied more and more of his time, and he composed comparatively little.

Selected works

Ballets

* ''El hombre maya'' (1939) * ''La gruta diabólica'', for chamber orchestra (1940)

Orchestra

*''Cinco piezas infantiles'', for string orchestra (1933) *''Tribu'', sym. poem, (1934) **En la llanura (On the Prairie) **La serpiente negra (The Black Serpent) **La danza del fuego (Fire Dance) *''Paisaje'' (Landscape), suite, (1935) *''Panoramas de México'', suite (1936) **Sonora **Veracruz **Yucatán *''Mi viaje a Norte América'' (My North-American Journey), suite (1947) *''Acuarela nocturna (en San Salvador)'', op. 20 (1949) *''Suite veracruzana'' (1957) *Concertino for Piano and Orchestra (1974)

Vocal

*''Uchben X'coholte'' (In an Ancient Cemetery), for soprano and chamber orchestra (1931) *''Cuatro canciones'', for soprano and piano (1932) *''El grillo'' (The Cricket, words by Daniel Castañeda), for soprano, clarinet, violin, piano, and rattle (1933) *''U kayil chaac'' (Mayan rain song), for soprano and chamber orchestra with indigenous percussion (1934) *''Suite infantil'' (Children's Suite), for soprano and chamber orchestra (1936) **Duerme. Moderato cantabile **El aire. Allegro **El caimán. Andantino **El violín. Andante **El indigena. Allegretto **El gallo. Allegro *''Los pescadores Seris'' (The Seri Fishermen), for voice and chamber orchestra with indigenous percussion (1938) *''Los danzantes Yaquis'' (The Yaqui Dancers), for voice and chamber orchestra with indigenous percussion (1938)

Piano

*''Radiogramma'' (1931)

Chamber music

*String Quartet (1933) *''Vidrios rotos'' (Broken Windows), for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano (1938)