Cantos Cautivos is an extraordinary digital archive devoted to music written, sung, and heard in centers for political detention and torture in Chile under the regime of Augusto Pinochet, who seized power on September 11, 1973, with clandestine American support. I've only just begun to explore the library, which includes not only musical examples but also testimonies connected with performances in the camps. Here is Renato Alvarado Vidal talking about a spontaneous rendition of the "Ode to Joy" in Cuatro Álamos: "...The warm air of a Santiago autumn entered the cell together with the 'Ode to Joy,' sung by the recognized prisoners of the adjacent prison section: '…Listen, brother, to the song of joy…' And of course he listened, and he sang. I am a terrible singer. Once at Puchuncaví concentration camp, they noticed that out of 320 singers I was the one singing the National Anthem out of tune. But at that moment, I sang too. With all my heart I joined my comrades’ chorus, and I sang. I sang all my joy of staying alive and standing up on my own two feet."
Previously: Music and Violence.
