It is an intangible cultural heritage or living heritage, which is an inheritance transmitted from generation to generation, Through the entire environment that entails its practice in the Guatemalan social conglomerate, among many elements that make it up, which makes us proud as Guatemalans, expresses Walter Renato Izeppi Ramírez, a national musician and composer, in charge of processional music bands.
Izeppi adds that Holy Week distinguishes Guatemala from other countriesand that is deeply rooted in our culture, our faith, our devotion and our tradition. Without a doubt, within the most outstanding elements of our Holy Week – for being a very own genre – are the Guatemalan processional marches and the music bands that interpret them.
“Music has always been a special bond of approach between human beings and God over time. Music has been created to please the Lord; It has been the perfect instrument to approach through musical notes, having an effective form of communication, very effective with our creator. In such a way that the processional funeral marches are that way in which the Guatemalan composer puts his talent at the service of the neighbor, through the most sublime musical creations that go directly to the soul and heart of the devotee, ”adds the artist.
When the devotee charger receives his turn to carry on his image of devotion, he sees the number on the shift that will have to load, the exact address, and immediately searches the funeral marches program. The funeral march that will touch him in his turn will be a special moment to take his devotion to the image of his devotion, add Izeppi.
THE CHRIST OF THE KINGS
Each march has an origin, some could have been for a special thanks, for a miracle received, an allegory or adornment of the processional Anda, A moment of faith, experiences or anecdotes, for a disease, or the death of a loved one or a friend, or for special reasons such as biblical characters, by an ephemeris too, ”says Izeppi.
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In records of the cathedral it is explained that it is the first natural size image for cult that came from Spain, as a gift of King Carlos V at the beginning of the evangelization of our lands, in that distant 16th century. He was called “of the Kings” because he was in the chapel of that name in the second cathedral of the Panchoy Valley, between 1680 and 1773, when the earthquakes of Santa Marta destroyed it.
Some of the marches have names or advocations of images such as Cristo Rey, Jesus of San Bartolo, Jesus of Consuelo, Jesús Nazareno del forgiveness, among other works of the Guatemalan funeral pentagram. The important thing is that these musical notes embodied in the sacred staff, are transmitted through the inspiration of each composer.
The Musical Education and Marches Compositors, Nery Racancoj explains that the first image to whom it is considered was dedicated to a march was to the Christ of the Kings, currently revered in the Metropolitan Cathedral.
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An investigation by anthropologist Celso Lara (1947-2019) refers that “The oldest march that is news was composed for the procession of the Christ of the Kings, in 1595. Anonymous author, LA incomplete score can be consulted in the Archdiocese archive. Of clear Venetian origin, the first funeral marches were composed of the teachers of the temples where there were, in addition to an evangelizing priest, a chapel master. There were several masters of indigenous ancestry chapel, ”he explains.
Racancoj says that the score dedicated to this image is for organ. “It is probably because at the time an intramurous procession was done,” explains the academic.