The Canarian timple player Luis Millares Sall, popularly known as Totoyo Millares, passed away this Sunday in Gran Canaria at the age of 86.
Considered the "father of the modern timple" and a virtuoso, Millares dedicated a good part of his life to the dissemination of this instrument, a task that led him to found the first school dedicated to the timple in 1954, through which thousands of students have passed, including, for example, Jos
Millares, who published more than 80 albums dedicated to the timple, is part of a family saga of Canarian artists as the son of the poet Juan Millares and the pianist Dolores Sall and brother of the poets Agustín and José Millares or the painters Manolo and Jane Millares.
His most outstanding publication was "Anthology of the Canarian timple", a work in three volumes with which he managed to establish the present and future of the sound of this Canarian instrument.
Totoyo Millares also played an important role in the creation of the well-known band Los Gofiones, in 1969, with which he set out to rescue the most traditional Canarian folklore, in addition to contributing to the creation of the first Popular Timple Orchestra in 1983.
Throughout his life, Millares was recognized with the Canary Islands Prize for Popular Culture in 2015 or the title of Favorite Son of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, among others.
The City Council of his hometown has expressed its condolences through a statement in which it highlights Millares' contribution so that the timple has entered "with its own right as an instrument of cultured music, great expressiveness and greater substance in orchestras, including plucking and strumming techniques for solo performances and accompanying other instruments."
The capital's mayor, Augusto Hidalgo, has given his condolences and has valued Millares' extensive musical inventory, whom he has considered the renovator of the interpretation of the timple and creator of the modern style", while praising the work of the school, which he has considered "a benchmark since its creation."