Location of some documentary sources for the history of music in Ecuador

Abstract

This article examines the documentary sources available in the Quito archives for research on the history of music in Ecuador. Despite the lack of a formal tradition in musicology and an adequate methodology, several pioneering efforts have contributed to the study of Ecuadorian music. The composers Juan Agustín Guerrero Toro and Segundo Luis Moreno Andrade are fundamental in the musical historiography of the country, along with other researchers such as Pedro Pablo Traversari Salazar and Francisco Salgado Ayala. The study highlights the importance of primary sources, which include manuscript scores, sound recordings, historical documents, and archaeological materials, and emphasizes the need for rigorous systematization and greater dissemination of these resources. The creation of a National Music Archive to centralize and preserve information is advocated, and the establishment of a musicological training school is suggested to foster the development of more in-depth and contextually relevant studies.