Born in Becerril, Cesar, on January 8, 1933, the life of Candelario Zuleta was linked from the beginning to work in the fields. Proudly peasant and farmer, he soon discovered that he had a talent as a composer and for many years he alternated working the land with creating music, even when difficulties arose that tested his mettle.
He shared a good part of his story with the portal the pilon of Valledupar, because confirmed its participation in the next edition of the Vallenata Legend Festival in the capital of Cesar, specifically in the category of “unpublished song”. During the talk, she recalled the moment when the Colombian armed conflict affected her life forever. “They (the guerrilla) took me off the farm, and they took all my cattle, they killed my brother. The first victim of the guerrilla in Becerril was me,” Candelario said, still somewhat angry when he recalled this harsh episode of forced displacement due to violence.
To complicate matters, in recent years his vision had progressively deteriorated until two months ago he was completely blind. However, not even these vicissitudes made him give up and that is how Candelario, who has written some 200 songs throughout his life, went to the offices of the Fundación Festival de la Leyenda Vallenata to register as one of the more than 100 composers who, up to now, are fighting for the title of King of Vallenata Unpublished Song.
For this edition of the festival, which will take place from April 26 to 30, Candelario will participate in the aforementioned category with a song titled heavenly partya son that the composer himself defines as “a remembrance of the first minstrels that motivated him to highlight Vallenato folklore”.
During the talk with the source, Candelario was asked what was his starting point to start composing and what he thought of the evolution of vallenato in recent years, to which he replied:
“What is my theme as a composer? I don’t compose crazy things or nonsense, I compose consistent songs, with harmony and rhythm (…) (Vallenato today) is very bad, terrible. One fits concordance and music, but today’s doesn’t fit anything. What is Silvestre’s music called? Identify her! The true vallenato was taken by the hurricane”
This version of the Vallenata Legend Festival will be the fourth in which Calendar is presented, according to his words. The first was in 1977, the second in 1980 and the third in 1983. In this sense, he was very clear that despite his blindness, he does not have economic needs “I still live from my work in the fields, I don’t go begging”.
About two months ago, Candelario fulfilled one of his lifelong dreams: record a record work with seven songs of his authorship that include the four traditional vallenato airs (the puya, the merengue, the walk and the son). Those in charge of recording his compositions were the singer and guacharaquero Luis Alberto Suárez Leiva, known in the vallenato world as keywhile the accordion was played by Sergio Armando Suárez, known as check up.
This production that bears the name my harvest is accompanied by a book of poems entitled Lost Talents. In statements by Candelario collected by the Fundación Festival Vallenato del Magdalena Medio, he explained this fact:
“The talent was hidden, but the time has come to make it known. It is never too late because now I have happiness sown in my heart, as the farmer that I am, and even the tears that I had committed to have come out “
It should be noted that Candelario belongs to the Zuleta dynasty, one of the most prolific in the history of Colombian music. This is because he is the son of Mario Zuleta Salas, who in turn was the uncle of Emiliano Zuleta Baquero, father of Poncho and emilianofounders of the group The Zuleta Brothers.
For now, Candelario is focused on becoming the king of the unpublished song in version 56 of the Vallenata Legend Festival.
