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:
Luis Madariaga
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976

In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.

It was a powerful source of strength, solidarity and ironclad brotherhood, created during those long months in captivity, seeking an outlet for our hearts. I believe that that experience left a mark on all of us.

During my time at Valparaíso Prison, I had the chance to see the singer Julio Iglesias come to the facility. He said something stupid: 'I am a prisoner too, I live on an aeroplane'.

The reaction of the political prisoners watching from the third gallery of that hellish prison was total silence. The word had spread asking that no one should applaud whatever Iglesias had to say.

This led Iglesias to later ask the man who had brought him to this place who those guys were up on the Prison’s third gallery, who never once applauded him and kept quiet.

This had been quite noticeable because there were many of us up there surrounding the gallery's handrails. It was our way of expressing our disapproval for this man who was on good terms with Chile’s criminal dictatorship. Then Iglesias left.


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Published on: 05 August 2016

Listen, brother
to the song of joy
the joyful song that awaits
a new day.

Come, sing, dream, singing
live singing the new sun
under which men
will once again be brothers.

If in your path only sadness exists
and the bitter cry
of total solitude
come, sing, dream, singing
live dreaming the new sun
under which men
will once again be brothers.

If you don’t find joy
in this land
search for it, brother
beyond the stars.

Come, sing, dream, singing
live dreaming the new sun
under which men
Once again will be brothers.




Related testimonies:

  • The Black King (El rey negro)  Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

    One cold winter night of 1975, the small clinic of Melinka, in the Puchuncaví Detention Camp, became the setting for a touching story.

  • National Anthem of Chile  Boris Chornik Aberbuch, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, March 1975

    The Puchuncaví detention camp’s daily routine included mandatory participation in the ceremonies of raising and taking down the Chilean flag on the flagpole at the entrance to the camp.

  • Dreams of my Imprisonment (Sueños de mi encierro)  Mario Patricio Cordero Cedraschi, Cárcel de Valparaíso, Winter of 1975

    I’d spent two years in prison and there was no end in sight for my time in jail. I observed during visiting hours that many prisoners had children, a wife, family.

  • To Sing by Improvising (Pa’ cantar de un improviso)  Claudio Enrique Durán Pardo (Kila Chico), Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, June 1975

    We made a Venezuelan cuatro from a large plank of wood attached to one of the walls of the "ranch" where we ate.

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Amelia Negrón, Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 31 December 1975

    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.

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