Wotzbelí­ Aguilar: Photo album

Abstract

Víctor Wotzbelí Aguilar was born in Huehuetenango in 1897. His origin is always disputed by those who passionately identify with his music, since a temporary job takes his father from the city of Quetzaltenango, to the government of Huehuetenango, the city where he was born. Later, together with his family, he returns to Quetzaltenango. It is there where he studies and develops as a musician. Wotzbelí was one of the few known disciples of Master Jesús Castillo. Influenced by don Jesús and the currents of the time, Wotzbelí brings a fusion of cultures to his artistic work. The contemporary rhythms of blues, tango, fox trot and other rhythms brought to the Guatemalan instrument of the marimba, which at the time grew to the well-known double-keyboard marimba that became so popular at the time. Wotzbelí built his repertoire, mostly around his life in the Altese city of Quetzaltenango. Among his most famous works are the requested pieces of Tristezas Quetzaltecas, La Patrona de mi Pueblo, Los Trece and many others in a style of which he was the greatest exponent and which was called years after his death with the name of güarimba. After an intense and prolific life, he died at the early age of forty-three, being back in what he considered his homeland, the beautiful city of Xelajú, after a time of life, perhaps too long and hectic, in the capital city of Guatemala.