Fifth Symphony

Music piece by:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, September 1973

I like all classical music, particularly Beethoven and Mozart. I listen to it all day on Radio Esperanza, on the bus I drive. The passengers like it.

But listening to classical music reminds me of what happened in prison and it produces a short circuit in me.

When we were in the prison yard, the loudspeakers would play Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and other pieces of classical music which I have trouble identifying.

I think that perhaps there was a subliminal message behind the use of these works. I see it as a form of intimidation, perhaps because of the dark and dense atmosphere that this music can sometimes have.

In fact, when I listen to it, it reminds me of movies and images about the Jewish Holocaust.


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Published on: 13 January 2018

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