376 results where found for «To Sing by Improvising»


You Can Blame Me (Échame a mí la culpa)

Music piece by:
José Ángel Espinoza, aka Ferrusquillo
Testimony by:
Marcia Scantlebury
« Mexican songs - and this one in particular - have always moved me. When I shared a cell with Miriam Silva, a young woman who belonged to the Communist Youth, arrested by the DINA when she was handing out leaflets on the street, we killed time in an organised fashion to keep ourselves from getting depressed and overcome by anxiety due to an unknown fate. »
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They Say the Homeland Is (Dicen que la patria es)

Music piece by:
Chicho Sánchez Ferlosio
Testimony by:
Sergio Reyes Soto
Experience in:
« This song, like so many others, was not at all “captive”. The revolutionary songs we sang behind bars imbued us with a sense of freedom. Rolando Alarcón, and later Quilapayún, introduced “Dicen que la patria es” (or “Canción de soldados”) to Chile. »
[...]
« Freedom songs travelled with those who sang them. This song travelled from Pudeto Military Base in Punta Arenas, to Dawson Island, to the Municipal Stadium occupied by the Air Force, and then to the Punta Arenas Jail. However, I don’t recall singing it much at the Cochrane Military Base next to Los Ciervos River, to the south of Punta Arenas. »
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Balderrama

Music piece by:
Manuel José Castilla (lyrics) and Gustavo Leguizamón (music). Popularised by Mercedes Sosa
Testimony by:
Eduardo Ojeda
« We arrived at Camp Compingin on Dawson Island on the afternoon of 11 September. We knew that we had been arrested that morning, and we knew nothing else yet. »
[...]
«  (1908-1973) Socialist president of Chile from 1970 to 1973. He was overthrown by Augusto Pinochet’s military forces in 1973. »
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Priests and Soldiers (Curas y milicos)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« I don’t want to exaggerate but Camp Melinka became not only a factory that produced handicrafts and a performance hall but also a university. »
[...]
« While listening to one of those professors, I learned about Father Bartolomé de las Casas, a priest who lived in Central America and earned the title of Defender of the Indians during the harshest period of the Spanish Conquest. His life was marked by defeat. He was unable to stop the abuses committed with the consent of the Catholic Church, which was his spiritual home. »
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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:
Renato Alvarado Vidal
« Once upon a time, there was a good little wolf. … No. That’s another story. »
[...]
« Once he was left alone and recovered the use of his hands, the first thing he did was open that window. At that moment the warm air of Santiago's autumn came into the cell at the same time as the 'Ode to Joy', casually intoned by the prisoners of the adjacent prison section. »
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La Adelita

Music piece by:
Unknown
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January – February 1974
« This is another song that was performed by the band Los de Chacabuco and was sung in the prisoners’ weekly show. It’s a very old Mexican song that was popular in Chile. »
[...]
« It used to be performed in the compound set up by the prisoners and rehearsed at Los de Chacabuco's venue in the so-called Civic District. Along with the other songs recovered from the historic cassette, this one was also recorded in the group’s aforementioned venue. »
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The Prisoner of Til Til (El cautivo de Til Til)

Music piece by:
Patricio Manns
Testimony by:
Renato Alvarado
« I arrived at Tres Álamos on the eve of the departure for Mexico with a large group of prisoners. The group included Dr. Ipinza, who before leaving entrusted me with the job of physician, the medicine donated by the Red Cross, and his position in the Council of Elders. »
[...]
« The fact of the matter is that a while later we learned that an International Red Cross committee would visit our pavilion. The prisoners of the adjoining pavilion, who were about to leave for Mexico and would not be visited by the Red Cross, were keen to ensure that the visiting committee saw a list of the names of people who had disappeared by then. »
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I Come Back (Vuelvo)

Music piece by:
Patricio Manns (lyrics) and Horacio Salinas (music)
Testimony by:
Fernando Aravena
Experience in:
« During our mateadas in the Prison of Santiago, we always talked about the song ‘Vuelvo’ (I Come Back). It gave you the hope of returning to the fight. The prison was only something temporary. »
[...]
« Amongst the visitors we had in the prison was Silvio Rodríguez. He sang ‘El breve espacio en que no estás’, a very well-known song by Pablo Milanés. »
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Moments (Los momentos)

Music piece by:
Eduardo Gatti
Testimony by:
Scarlett Mathieu
« ‘Moments’ was a song sung by the female comrades whose partners were imprisoned on the other side of Tres Álamos, or were fugitives or disappeared. We all sang it, but it was like their anthem. »
[...]
« The ‘Ode to Joy’ by Beethoven was one of our anthems. It was important for what it represented. We even changed the lyrics: ‘beyond the stars’ became ‘beyond borders’ because many prisoners would go into exile. »
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The Apparition (El aparecido)

Music piece by:
Víctor Jara
Testimony by:
Pedro Mella Contreras
« When they took me out to physiotherapy treatment, I sang some verses of the song ‘The Apparition’ loudly: »
[...]
« For example, the verses that I sang relate to the fact that we escaped from being executed by the CNI. »
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