Inti-Illimani y Víctor Jara: el proceso creador de la nueva canción chilena

Abstract

This work examines the historical development of the Chilean new song movement and how it fits within Chile‘s twentieth century history. I chose Víctor Jara and Inti-Illimani as central figures in this essay, because both are paradigmatic of the most important aspects of a rich process of musical creativity. Both approach musical creation as an unceasing search within a political and social context of freedom, without giving in to commercial demands. The music was produced in a milieu, which, in spite of social and economic inequalities, had developed a democracy with a powerful dialogical capacity and where different social and political forces continuously presented their diverse perspectives about their national issues. This democratic habitat generated an innovative musical movement, a continuous search of new avenues, which changed Chilean music forever.