# Aniceto Ortega

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**Aniceto de los Dolores Luis Gonzaga Ortega del Villar** (17 April 1825 – 17 November 1875) was a Mexican physician, composer, and pianist. Although he had a distinguished career as a physician and surgeon,[1] he is also remembered today for his 1871 opera *[Guatimotzin](/source/Guatimotzin)*, one of the earliest [Mexican operas](/source/List_of_Mexican_operas) to use a native subject.[2] He is related to the Colonial Administrator and Archbishop of Nueva Espana, who became the Viceroy of Nueva Espana twice over. He became Conde del Peñasco by way of marriage, and was a Conde del Oploca by way of birth, amongst other titles.

## Biography

Aniceto Ortega was born in [Tulancingo, Hidalgo](/source/Tulancingo,_Hidalgo), on 17 April 1825, the second of three sons born to Senator Sr. D. Francisco de Ortega-Montañés y Martínez y Navarro, and Countess Sra. Dña. María Josefa del Villar. His father was a statesman active in the [Mexican independence](/source/Mexican_independence) movement and a prominent literary figure, who wrote the patriotic verse drama *México libre* (*Free Mexico*).[3] Both Ancieto and his older brother, Francisco, studied medicine at the [Escuela Nacional de Medicina](/source/Faculty_of_Medicine_(UNAM)) in [Mexico City](/source/Mexico_City). There he specialised in [obstetrics](/source/Obstetrics) and [gynaecology](/source/Gynaecology) and received his degree in 1845. After further medical studies in [Paris](/source/Paris), he went on to become a professor at the medical school in Mexico City and was one of the founders (and later Director) of Mexico's first hospital for women and children, the *Casa de Maternidad e Infancia*.[4]

Ortega also had a parallel career as a musician. His first composition the *Marcha Zaragoza* (1862), was named for the Mexican patriot and general, [Ignacio Zaragoza](/source/Ignacio_Zaragoza), and became Mexico's second national anthem.[5] He composed two other [marches](/source/March_(music)), *Potosina* and *Republicana* and several piano pieces, most notably *Invocación a Beethoven*, first performed in 1867. In 1866, he became one of the founders of the *Sociedad Filarmónica Mexicana* (Mexican Philharmonic Society) which played a crucial role in the establishment of Mexico's [National Conservatory of Music](/source/National_Conservatory_of_Music_of_Mexico).[5] His opera, *[Guatimotzin](/source/Guatimotzin)*, a romanticised account of the defense of Mexico by its last [Aztec](/source/Aztec) emperor, [Cuauhtémoc](/source/Cuauht%C3%A9moc), was one of the earliest Mexican operas to use a native subject.[2] *Guatimotzin* premiered on 13 September 1871 at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Mexico City, with [Ángela Peralta](/source/%C3%81ngela_Peralta) and [Enrico Tamberlik](/source/Enrico_Tamberlik) in the leading roles.

Aniceto Ortega died at the age of 50 on 17 November 1875 in Mexico City and was buried in the chapel of the Escuela Nacional de Medicina.[6] The central plaza in [Pachuca, Hidalgo](/source/Pachuca,_Hidalgo), bears his name.

## Partial list of works

**Piano**

- *Invocación a Beethoven*
- *Elegía, amor e inocencia*
- *Romanza sin palabras*
- *El canto de la huilota*
- *Recuerdo de amistad* (dedicated to the Mexican virtuoso pianist and composer, [Tomás León](/source/Tom%C3%A1s_Le%C3%B3n))

**Waltzes**

- *Enriqueta* ([waltz](/source/Waltz)-[jarabe](/source/Jarabe))
- *Brillante*

**Marches**

- *Zaragoza*
- *Potosina*
- *Republicana*

**Opera**

- *Guatimotzin* (in 9 scenes to a [libretto](/source/Libretto) by José Cuellar)

## Notes and references

1. Elías (2007) p. 140. Quote: "Dr. D. Aniceto Ortega (1825-1875), médico innovador, patriota, nacionalista, poeta humanista, músico y compositor, además de distinguido cirujano, partero y docente de la propia Escuela de Medicina" (Dr. Aniceto Ortega (1825-1875), pioneering physician, patriot, nationalist, humanist poet, musician and composer as well as a distinguished surgeon, obstetrician, and professor at the [National] Medical School)

1. Grout (2003) p. 561

1. Sierra (1985) pp. 140-141)

1. Elías (2007), pp. 140 and 142

1. Stevenson

1. Sosa (2005)

## Sources

- Elías, Roberto Uribe, [La cirugía mexicana en ginecología y obstetricia durante el siglo XIX](https://web.archive.org/web/20090126154759/http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/pdf/662/66275214.pdf), *Cirugía y Cirujanos*, Vol. 75, No. 2, March–April 2007, pp. 139–144 (accessed 26 March 2010, in Spanish)
- Grout, Donald Jay and Williams, Hermine Weigel, [*A short history of opera*](https://books.google.com/books?id=l_b2vIXHsUkC&dq=Opera+Mexico&pg=PA561), Columbia University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-231-11958-5
- Sierra, Justo (ed.), ["Francisco Ortega"](https://books.google.com/books?id=kaaDTMXRhZEC&q=%22Francisco+Ortega%22), *Antología del Centenario* (originally published in 1910), [UNAM](/source/UNAM), 1985, pp. 140–141. ISBN 968-837-513-6 (in Spanish)
- Sosa, José Octavio, ["Ortega, Aniceto"](http://www.operacalli.com/biografias_operacalli/biografias_o.htm)[dead link], *Diccionario de la Ópera Mexicana*, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes, 2005 (reprinted on operacalli.com with permission of the author) (accessed 26 March 2010, in Spanish)
- Stevenson, Robert. "Ortega del Villar, Aniceto"
- Velázquez, Jorge, [El pianismo mexicano del siglo XIX](https://web.archive.org/web/20120225074726/http://www.analesiie.unam.mx/pdf/50_205-239.pdf), *Anales del Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas*, Vol. XIII, No. 50, 1982, pp. 205–240 (accessed 26 March 2010, in Spanish)

## External links

- Audio file: [Marcha Zaragoza by Aniceto Ortega de Villar](https://web.archive.org/web/20090831220427/http://www.bicentenario.gob.mx/cincodemayo/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49&Itemid=60) played by the Orquesta Clásica de México, conducted by Carlos Esteva

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