Willy Bascuñán

Willy Bascuñán

Born	Guillermo Alfonso Bascuñán Dockendorff (1942-11-19) November 19, 1942 (age 81) Viña del Mar, Chile
Nationality	Chilean
Occupation(s)	Composer and songwriter
Website	www.willybascunan.scd.cl (in Spanish)

Guillermo "Willy" Alfonso Bascuñán Dockendorff (born 19 November 1942, in Viña del Mar), is a Chilean composer and actor. He is the only composer who has obtained both the first place in the folkloric and international competitions in the same edition of the Viña del Mar International Song Festival.

In 2016, he was recognized as one of the "fundamental figures of Chilean music" by the Chilean Society of Copyright.^[1]

Biography

In the 1960s, along with Patricio Manns, Luis Urquidi, Violeta Parra, Isabel Parra, Ángel Parra, and Víctor Jara, he was one of the pioneers of the Chilean neo-folklore.

He composed many hits, such as "El solitaire", "El ovejero", "Cachimbo alegre" and "El maco Amengual", among others.^[2] He competed in both genres of the Viña del Mar Song Festival in 1967 with the songs "Cuando rompa el alba" (in the popular category) and "Voy pa 'Mendoza" (in the folkloric category), under the pseudonyms "El Fugitivo" and "Juan Carlos ", respectively. Their songs were the winners of the respective competitions that year.

He has also composed historical musical works such as "¡Al 7° de Línea!", which was the first stereo album and conceptual album recorded in Chile, whose song "Los viejos estandartes" (lit: The old standards), with lyrics by Jorge Inostroza^[3] and popularized by Los Cuatro Cuartos, which was a musical group he belonged to,^[4] would later become the official anthem of the Chilean Army.

In 2005 he released the CD entitled Soy del Sur, in which he sings together with Ginette Acevedo, Antonio Zabaleta and various Chilean musicians. That same year, he composed "Al 7° de Línea: Segunda Edición, La Nación en Armas".^[5]

As an actor, he participated with the comedian Ronco Retes in the comedic series "Troncal Negrete" on TVN, thus forming one of the most remembered comedic dio of the Chilean musical environment.

In 2018, he released an autobiographical book, "Tiempo y camino, autobiografía de Willy Bascuñán".^[6]

Politics

He was an adherent of the military dictatorship and, a sympathizer of the Avanzada Nacional political party, he composed its anthem.^[7]

He participated in the television strip of the 1988 Chilean national plebiscite, campaigning for the "Yes" option.^[8]

Inspired by the arrest of Augusto Pinochet in London, he composed the song "Carta a los chilenos" (lit: Letter to Chileans) in his honor.^[2]

References

^ "Figura fundamental de la música chilena - Timeline - 2016 Willy Bascuñán". Chilean Society of Copyright (in Spanish).
^ ^a ^b "Willy Bascuñán". MusicaPopular.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-12.
^ ""Willy" Bascuñán revela el origen de los versos de "Los viejos estandartes"". Economía y Negocios (in Spanish). 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
^ "Willy Bascuñán". Discogs. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
^ "Al 7º de Línea. Volumen II. "La nación en armas"". MusicaPopular.cl (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-12.
^ "Willy Bascuñán presentó su libro autobiográfico en la USS". Universidad San Sebastián (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-11.
^ Díaz Nieva, José (2016-01-14). "Avanzada Nacional: La derecha a la derecha de Pinochet". Nuevo Mundo (in Spanish). doi:10.4000/nuevomundo.68842. ISSN 1626-0252.
^ "Los 100 rostros del Sí". The Clinic (in Spanish). Retrieved 2020-11-12.