455 results where found for «Zamba so as Not to Die»


We Shall Overcome

Music piece by:
Attributed to Charles Albert Tindley
Testimony by:
Alfonso Padilla Silva
Experience in:
« When the concentration camp that operated for nearly five months at the Regional Stadium of Concepción was closed in early February 1974, hundreds of political prisoners were transferred to the Concepción Prison, a wing of which was turned into a concentration camp. »
[...]
« With a smaller group, which we called 'The hard-boiled eggs' (I still have no idea where that name came from or how we chose it), we presented a show every other Sunday at noon. There we’d accompany anyone who wanted to sing a song of their choice. But that, too, is another story. »
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The Little Cigarette (El cigarrito)

Music piece by:
Víctor Jara
Testimony by:
Alfonso Padilla Silva
Experience in:
« During Christmas 1973, I was one of some 600 men and 100 women prisoners in Concepción Regional Stadium. »
[...]
« Although strictly speaking, the song did not have a social or political message as such, to sing a song by Jara was tantamount to a tribute to him and to his example, and also to all the fallen comrades. »
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I’m Not from Here - To my Comrade, my Love (No soy de aquí - A mi compañera)

Music piece by:
Facundo Cabral, with lyrics modified by a political prisoner
Testimony by:
Alfonso Padilla Silva
Experience in:
« The choir of male prisoners sang a piece called 'A mi compañera' (To my comrade, my love) to the music of 'No soy de aquí, ni soy de allá' (I'm not from here, nor from there) by Facundo Cabral. »
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Partisan Anthem (Himno guerrillero)

Music piece by:
anonymous Russian melody. During the Russian Revolution, several lyrics with different ideological content circulated. This version is based on 'Makhnovtchina', attributed to Nestor Makhno, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary.
Testimony by:
Julio Laks Feller
Experience in:
« In late September 1974, the Soviet partisan’s song was intoned softly but with an awe-inspiring force in the José Domingo Cañas torture centre. »
[...]
« Perhaps a dozen of us, holding hands, with our eyes blindfolded, all began to sing, in whispers. The young sentry who guarded us appeared to be so paralyzed by the collective power released by our voices that he did not even try to shut us up. »
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Melody by Jorge Peña Hen

Music piece by:
Jorge Peña Hen
Testimony by:
María Fedora Peña
Experience in:
Cárcel de la Serena, October 1973
« 'Look here, Maria Fedora. I’ve brought you a treasure', it was the voice of my brother Juan Cristián as he crossed the doorway of our mother’s house one morning in January 1983. »
[...]
« I took the tiny piece of paper that had been meticulously folded, on which one could make out snippets of musical staves and some notes. Without opening it, I brought the paper to my nose. Closing my eyes, I breathed in deeply, and I felt my father’s scent permeate my soul. »
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To Sing by Improvising (Pa’ cantar de un improviso)

Music piece by:
Violeta Parra
Testimony by:
Claudio Durán Pardo
« We made a Venezuelan cuatro from a large plank of wood attached to one of the walls of the "ranch" where we ate. »
[...]
« I had wanted a Venezuelan cuatro ever since Violeta Parra had taught us that Latin American music has no boundaries; she played the cuatro in her songs in a masterly way, which I wanted to imitate. Her children, Ángel Parra and Isabel Parra, had recorded a song in 1970, very charming and catchy, and we wanted to do it: "Pa’ cantar de un improviso" (To sing by improvising). To do so without a cuatro would not be the same. »
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Candombe for José (Candombe para José)

Music piece by:
Roberto Ternán
Testimony by:
Sara De Witt
Experience in:
« We were in Tres Álamos barracks in September 1976. I don’t recall how many of us women were imprisoned there. I believe there were close to a hundred of us. »
[...]
« We stood in the barracks yard and began to sing in unison. We sang the “Ode to Joy” and another song of which I remember just one verse: “se va, se va, se va hacia la libertad” (going away, going away, going away towards freedom). »
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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:
Amelia Negrón
Experience in:
« Preparations for that Wednesday night became more intense. It would be a different night. We women prisoners had secretly organised ourselves, but more importantly, we had also coordinated with the male prisoners. »
[...]
« But that’s how it was. Some continued in prison while other others returned to their homes or were sent into exile. Few women, very few, ever returned. We prepared the New Year’s Eve dinner in advance. We had to be ready for the chosen hour: midnight - not a minute more, nor a minute less. »
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Futuristic Anthem (Himno futurista)

Music piece by:
unknown
Testimony by:
Patricio Polanco
Experience in:
« In 1973 and 1974, Pisagua was characterised by the harsh and cruel treatment of political prisoners. Singing was mandatory for prisoners, who were guarded by Army platoons, and it was also a means to avoid beatings and collective mistreatment. »
[...]
« The repertory consisted of approximately 35 military anthems from all branches of the Armed Forces. To these military songs, we added a few songs or anthems that became a form of resistance and asserting our dignity, albeit not explicitly. The lyrics shown below sometimes varied a bit, but this became the anthem most sung by prisoners at the Pisagua concentration camp. »
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South-Eastern Storm (La Sudestada)

Music piece by:
Poni Micharvegas
Testimony by:
Luis Alfredo Muñoz González
Experience in:
« While I was in solitary confinement in Cuatro Álamos, one day I noticed there was a large room at the end of the corridor, which, overnight, the dinos had filled with prisoners. »
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