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. »

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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:

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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. »

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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. »

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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. »

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Future (Futuro)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« The dream of the political prisoner was to regain freedom. All of us would feel joy when one of us was about to be released from prison, although it far from easy to see a comrade depart. Even less so for those who suspected they would never enjoy that privilege. »

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Song of a Middle-Class Man (Canción de un hombre medio)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« In our political discussions, we always spoke disdainfully of the middle class. In the view of the Marxist ideologues in prison, that sector of society supported the dictatorship and it was necessary to reverse that trend. »

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Song of the Disappeared (Canción del desaparecido)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« Several of my friends and comrades disappeared after being arrested. The dictatorship denied knowledge of their whereabouts but I knew they were lying. »

Tags:

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The Little Snail (El caracolito)

Music piece by:

Sergio Vesely

Testimony by:

Sergio Vesely

Experience in:

« I composed this song for a small children’s party we organised in the visitors’ yard of the Valparaíso Jail. I remember how the children had fun that day and enjoyed the play. That was the first time I put down the guitar so that a prisoner who played the accordion could accompany me. »

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