Cantos Cautivos

Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)

Music piece by:

original by Friedrich von Schiller (lyrics) and Ludwig van Beethoven (music). Free version in Spanish by Amado Regueiro Rodríguez, aka Orbe (lyrics) y Waldo de los Ríos (music), popularised in Chile by Miguel Ríos.

Testimony by:

Luis Madariaga

Experience in:

Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976

Tags:

« In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile. »

[...]

Story of the Chair (Historia de la silla)

Music piece by:

Silvio Rodríguez

Testimony by:

Eduardo Andrés Arancibia Ortiz

Experience in:

Cárcel de Santiago, 1990

Tags:

« This was one of the songs Silvio Rodríguez sang to us the day he visited the political prisoners in Santiago’s Public Jail in 1990. »

[...]

« Cárcel de Santiago »

Saint Gregory’s Tonada (Tonada San Gregorio)

Music piece by:

Pedro Humire Loredo

Testimony by:

Pedro Humire Loredo

Experience in:

Tenencia de Carabineros Nueva España, Población San Gregorio, September 1973

Tags:

« This tonada recalls the horrible situation I was subjected to in the cells of the police station in the San Gregorio district in southern Santiago. »

[...]

« In the late afternoon, we were put on a bus and told to lie face down. We did not know where we were being taken. We heard the police and guards saying that we would be taken to the Tacna regiment and then to Chile Stadium, but both facilities were already jam-packed with detainees. Eventually, we were taken to the National Stadium, where we were kept for two months. It was then that, in silence, this song welled up within me: 'Cárcel de San Gregorio' ('Saint Gregory’s Jail'). »

« We set up a band with a group of fellow prisoners. They were young, university students. One of them had a guitar. »

The Letter (La carta)

Music piece by:

Violeta Parra

Testimony by:

Paicavi Painemal

Experience in:

Cárcel de Temuco, 1985

Tags:

[...]

« Cárcel de Temuco »

Today Was Visitors’ Day (Hoy fue día de visitas)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« Visitors’ day was an exceptional day that broke the monotonous routine of all the other days of the week. »

Tags:

[...]

Valparaíso

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« This song was written and sung in cell number 198 of Valparaíso’s former prison, that is to say, on the top floor of the main building, which was higher than the walls that surrounded it. »

Tags:

[...]

How Can I Describe This to You? (Cómo hacer para darte una idea)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« This is one of two songs I wrote in prison for my beloved Graciela. In the song I tried to draw her closer to me, describing my everyday world and my experience of life as a captive. »

Tags:

[...]

The Brief Space Where You Are Absent (El breve espacio en que no estás)

Music piece by:

Pablo Milanés

Testimony by:

Vilma Rojas Toledo

Experience in:

Cárcel de Coronel, 1986 - 1988

Tags:

« I recall that during my time as a political prisoner, Pablo Milanés was one of our greatest companions. His songs filled us with life, helped us to keep breathing and living behind the bars imposed by Pinochet’s military dictatorship. »

[...]

« Cárcel de Coronel »

That General (Ese General)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« The night of 24 March 1976, the residents of cell 198 hardly slept. We hadn’t slept on account of a long, heated discussion about the prospects of revolution in Latin America’s Southern Cone. »

Tags:

[...]