Ernesto Acher, born on October 9, 1939, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and orchestral conductor. He was a member of Les Luthiers between 1971 and 1986, where he worked as songwriter, actor, instrument designer, choir master, singer and played over thirty different instruments. Before leaving the group he was involved in some individual projects as composer, including a soundtrack, two movements for clarinet and strigs, a string sextet and a symphonic poem for viola and orchestra. From 1987 to 1992 he co-founded what would become 'La Banda Elastica', where he composed, arranged, played piano, synthesiser, saxophone, vibraphone and trombone. Then he had a stint as stand-up comedian for about eighteen months (starting on May 1993), and then became a full-time orchestral conductor, a labour he still executes currently.
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As a kid, he studied piano and then moved on to clarinet when he became interested in jazz during his adolescence. Later on, he'd return to piano and learn notions of classical music as well. After secondary school, he graduated from college as an architect and in January 1971 he quit his job in order to become a full-time musician. A friend of his, pianist Alba Rozen, was part of the famous choir 'Nueve de Camara', conducted by Carlos López Puccio; Acher had also seen a recital by Les Luthiers and had visited another of its members, Daniel Rabinovich, to congratulate him. In Mar del Plata (where he was on holiday and they were on tour) they formally met and he became close friend with Marcos Mundstock, who was to take a year off, and proposed him as replacement.
Initially, Acher's contract was that of a wild card, so to speak: he stepped in for Les Luthiers' pianist Carlos Núñez Cortés during the songs he was required to sing or do a more theatrical or comical performance; he also replaced Mundstock as emcee, and took over Gerardo Masana's role composing for informal instruments and playing the contrachitarrone (a hybrid of guitar and cello). At the time, several group members liked jazz but none of them had enough experience in the area, so his first job as composer was to score a brand new jazz piece for Les Luthiers to perform on stage using mostly self-made instruments. Acher penned, thus, 'Manuela's Blues', where every instrument used was informal except for hi-hats and acoustic guitars.
When Mundstock returned in 1972, Acher was still invited to remain in the group as composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist. For the 'Recital '72', Acher co-wrote two numbers, 'La Bossa Nostra' (with Núñez and Jorge Maronna) and 'Si No Fuera Santiagueño' (with Mundstock, Maronna and López Puccio), also taking care of choral arrangements for the latter. Acher showed his ability to compose in folkloric styles (bossa nova and chacarera, respectively), which was useful for Les Luthiers' oeuvre in the long run.
From 1973 onwards Acher wouldn't play piano as often as before, usually only sitting at the instrument for the encores, or brief passages in one or two songs. His speciality would be, then, the brass section: during this recital, he played horn, clarinet and gom-horn (a home-made trumpet). He also modified the latter instrument and added it piston valves, being his first job as instrument designer. Years later, his groupmates would recall being impressed by Acher's multi-instrumentalist skills (besides keyboards and brass, he could play cello, drums, recorder, harmonica and even guitar). When asked how he'd learnt so many things about music and theatre, Acher would answer 'I majored in architecture'.
As well as the rest of his groupmates, he was devastated by the death of founder Gerardo Masana, whom he admired and respected, and had developed a professional and personal link. Together, they planned a new version of the gom-horn, which was built after Masana's passing. The idea was that it could be played with one hand, and Marcos Mundstock suggested the bell to be put on a helmet, and that's how one of the most famous informal instruments, the gom-horn da testa, was born.
'Recital 74' would see Acher playing the gom-horn da testa on 'Miss Lilly Higgins Sings Shimmys in Mississippi Spring (Shimmy)'. This piece started the series of five jazz numbers that he'd compose for Les Luthiers, each of them using only one vowel:
- 1974: Miss Lilly Higgins Sings Shimmy in Mississippi Spring (Shimmy)
- 1975: Doctor Bob Gordon Shops for Hot Dogs from Boston (Foxtrot ... or not)
- 1981: Papa Garland Had a Hat and a Jazz Band and a Mat and a Black Fat Cat (Rag)
- 1983: Pepper Clemens Sent the Messenger: Nevertheless the Reverend Left the Herd (Ten-Step)
- 1985: Truthful Lulu Pulls Thru Zulu (Blus)
In 1975 Ernesto Acher, for the first time, composed symphonic music for the group: a 'Peter and the Wolf' parody titled 'Teresa y el Oso' (Therese and the Bear), which included some new instruments invented by Les Luthiers. That led him to his first professional incursions outside the group: a soundtrack for a Carlos Jerusalinsky film (which earned him the first prize in UNCIPAR Film Festival), and two movements for clarinet and strings, both in 1976. That same year, he re-arranged his 'Teresa y el Oso' (originally for five instrumentalists), and scored a version for full orchestra (recorded at Ion Studios in Buenos Aires, conducted by group-mate Carlos López Puccio).
1977 was another productive year for Acher: he wrote and composed (with input from Carlos Nuñez) one of the group's most famous numbers, 'Lazy Daisy', as well as the popular 'Cantata de Don Rodrigo' (with Maronna and Lopez Puccio). One year later he'd compose a string sextet outside Les Luthiers, and in 1980 he'd have another project: a symphonic poem for viola and orchestra, performed by the Buenos Aires Philharmonic.
'Don Rodrigo' was Acher's first big theatrical part, and several would follow for the upcoming show, 'Muchas gracias de nada', where he sang lead vocals on the opening number ('La campana suonerá'), starred (as an actor) on further two ('El rey enamorado' and 'La gallina dijo "eureka"') and composed and arranged several pieces. 'Luthierías', the following recital, was reportedly Acher's favourite, and included his tribute to Mozart called 'Cuarteto Op. 44', where he and groupmate Carlos Núñez Cortés 'rowed' over a spot in the ensemble, playing various instruments in the process.
For 1983, he composed an opera for Les Luthiers, titled 'Cardoso en Gulevandia' (libretto by Mundstock), as well as a chamber piece for quartet called 'Entreteniciencia familiar', where he, paradoxically, didn't perform. Their upcoming show (1985–1986) featured his last compositions for the group, 'Vea esta noche', 'Truthful Lulu...' and 'Epopeya de los quince jinetes'.
After working extensively as part of Les Luthiers for many years, he'd finally leave the group in 1986 for reasons not fully disclosed yet. Acher usually answers to that question with a polite 'Les Luthiers are a multiple marriage, and a gentleman shouldn't ask a married couple what happened'.[1]