[5] His father, who was from Spain and immigrated to Argentina, was a teacher and it had been thought Ramírez would also pursue this career path but the job lasted for just two days due to "discipline problems".

[9][10] In 1964, the Ramírez composition Misa Criolla marked the beginning of a period of high musical productivity for the composer, which also heralded the premieres of the works Navidad Nuestra and La Peregrinación (both 1964); Los Caudillos (1965); Mujeres Argentinas (1969), and Alfonsina y el mar (1969), all produced in collaboration with writer Félix Luna.

[2][5] The Washington Post wrote that the Misa Criolla is "widely regarded as a stunning artistic achievement, [that] combined Spanish text with indigenous instruments and rhythms".

[5] While there, he had an encounter with two of 5 sisters (siblings, not nuns), who had regularly risked their lives bringing food to prisoners of the Nazis in their neighbourhood, which led him to consider writing "a spiritual piece".

[5] The Misa—a 16-minute Mass for either male or female soloists, chorus, and traditional instruments—is based on folk genres such as chacarera, carnavalito, and estilo pampeano, with Andean influences and instruments.

It was not publicly performed until 1967 in Düsseldorf, Germany, during a European tour that eventually brought Ariel Ramírez before Pope Paul VI.

While not sharing the same worldwide success,[citation needed] Alfonsina y el mar enjoys great popularity in Latin America and Spain, being one of the most well regarded songs in Argentine folk music.

The piece pays homage to poet Alfonsina Storni, evoking her tragic suicide in 1938, when she threw herself into the sea at La Perla beach in Mar del Plata, and the poem she wrote as a goodbye message, I Am Going to Sleep.

Artists of the stature of Mercedes Sosa, Nana Mouskouri, Violeta Parra, Alfredo Kraus, Avishai Cohen and José Carreras (with Pasión Vega) have made recordings of the song, as well as many other popular singers including Shakira, Ane Brun, Miguel Bosé, Andrés Calamaro and Paloma San Basilio.

[7] His wake was held in Congress at the Salón de los Pasos Perdidos,[3][4] and he was buried at Chacarita Cemetery in the Argentine Society of Authors and Composers' mausoleum on February 21, 2010.