Eduardo Falú

Eduardo Falú (July 7, 1923 – August 9, 2013) was an Argentine folk music guitarist and composer.

Life and work

Eduardo Falú was born in El Galpón, a village near San José de Metán in the province of Salta, in 1923. His parents, Fada and Juan Falú, were Syrian immigrants. Raised in rural surroundings, he was strongly influenced by the folk traditions of Salta (which remain, in Falú's words, "something lively, dynamic and evolutionary").

Falú was given his first guitar as a gift during childhood, and he began to perform traditional folk tunes of the Argentine Northwest as a troubadour. He formed a duo with César Perdiguero, and became well known in the region during the 1940s. Largely self-taught, Falú deepened his knowledge of the guitar through the study of the 19th century masters and was trained in harmony and theory by the prominent Argentine composer Carlos Guastavino.

He performed overseas for the first time in Paris, in 1959. This was followed by performances in Rome, Los Angeles, Madrid, and numerous other cultural capitals. He was particularly popular in Japan, where from 1963 to 1973, he gave over 200 performances; in subsequent years, he also performed regularly in duos with his nephew, Juan Falú. He died on August 9, 2013, at his home in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina; he was 90.