187 results where found for «The Brief Space Where You Are Absent»


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. »
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National Anthem of Chile

Music piece by:
Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« The Puchuncaví Prisoners Camp had a daily routine similar to that of military regiments. In a ridiculous ceremony, the flag was raised every morning at dawn and then it was taken down at nightfall. »
[...]
« We would arrive marching and singing military songs to the place where the flagpole was located and, when the order was given, it was our duty to sing the National Anthem. »
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Oh Saving Victim (O salutaris Hostia)

Music piece by:
text by Saint Thomas Aquinas; music by Lorenzo Perosi
Testimony by:
Roberto Navarrete
Experience in:
Cárcel de Santiago, November 1973 - April 1974
« The political prisoners’ cell block in Santiago Prison was established when they transferred many people from the National Stadium in October or November 1973. »
[...]
« Our block was close to the block where the constitutionalist officers of the Air Force were being held, including Michelle Bachelet's father. »
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St John Passion (Pasión según San Juan)

Music piece by:
Ángel Parra; text from the Gospel of Luke
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January - February 1974
« This song is the third track on the cassette recorded in the Chacabuco concentration camp by the band Los de Chacabuco, formed by Ángel Parra and conducted by him until his release. »
[...]
« This gospel was rehearsed by the group at its premises in the so-called Civic District of Chacabuco, which was the place where some chaplain or other would occasionally visit us. »
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The Scholar (El letrado)

Music piece by:
Quelentaro (Gastón and Eduardo Guzmán)
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 – February 1974
« From the first time I heard it, I was impressed by the way the duo Quelentaro sang this song, which was also written by them. When I sang it, I always tried to sing it in their style. I never sang it on stage, only for myself or for small groups of friends strumming guitars together. »
[...]
« At Chacabuco, I sang it whenever I could get a guitar, which was not an easy thing because many people wanted to play the few available guitars. When I got hold of a guitar, I would play it sitting on the benches where we ate our meals and sometimes someone would come by and we’d sing it together. »
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Melody by Jorge Peña Hen

Music piece by:
Jorge Peña Hen
Testimony by:
Eliseo González
Experience in:
Cárcel de la Serena, October 1973
« Jorge Peña Hen was in solitary confinement that day. I don’t know how, but someone brought him matches. With his saliva, he made ink from the phosphorus tips, which he then used to write a score of music on a scrap of paper. »
[...]
« In Corridor Two (known as 'the cancer ward' because that’s where all of us who had been tortured were held) we did not listen to music. »
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Candombe for José (Candombe para José)

Music piece by:
Roberto Ternán
Testimony by:
Amelia Negrón
« We were in Pavilion 1. One of us came up with the idea, I can’t remember who. There were so many of us and we spent the day inventing and creating things! »
[...]
« I don’t think anyone remembers nowadays whether the White Doves or the Cucurrucucú Doves won. The poor ball was kicked anywhere, I don’t even know whether someone scored, who refereed, who was a forward, nothing about the game… But they sang the whole time, without rest. »
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How We Resemble Each Other (En qué nos parecemos)

Music piece by:
Unknown. Popularised by Quilapayún
Testimony by:
Scarlett Mathieu
« In Cuatro Álamos, I was profoundly marked by the singing of a current detained-disappeared named Juan Chacón. He sang ‘En qué nos parecemos’, a love song from the Spanish Civil War. It remained engraved in me because that comrade disappeared from Cuatro Álamos. »
[...]
« For me, ‘En qué nos parecemos’ is the symbol of the period of solitary confinement. In my case, it was not very long and then they sent me to a place where I wasn’t isolated anymore. »
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Cantata Santa María de Iquique

Music piece by:
Luis Advis
Testimony by:
Alfonso Padilla
« Between March 1974 and July 1975, I had the opportunity to arrange about 200 songs and direct the production of the Cantata de Santa María de Iquique. In truth, the prison was my conservatoire. That’s where I learnt the basics of the profession of musician. »
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King Ñaca Ñaca (El rey Ñaca Ñaca)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Renato Alvarado Vidal
Experience in:
« During the last third of the 20th century, the concentration camps of the Chilean dictatorship were characterised by a high grade of organisation among prisoners, as well as the overflowing creativity they applied to all areas of human ingenuity. »
[...]
« The highlight was the theatre, where the great Óscar 'Cuervo' Castro made existence into a permanent performance. He proclaimed himself Mayor and received the new arrivals with a tricolour plywood banner and a speech as uplifting as it was absurd. »
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