The group was formed by students at Universidad Técnica del Estado at Santiago, Chile in 1967. In 1973 as they were on tour abroad, General Augusto Pinochet launched a coup d'etat and took power. Having heard of the numerous extra-judicial killings of many fellow artists by Chile's army, they took up residence in Italy, resulting in "the longest tour in history" for Inti-Illimani as they lived in de facto exile. They continued their efforts supporting Chilean democracy internationally; magnitizdat copies of their work continued to be widely distributed in Chile. In September 1988, days after they were no longer banned from Chile, they began touring Chile again. They helped organize the voting down of the referendum that would have re-elected Pinochet. Recently, they were actually supported by Chile as representatives of Chilean culture.
In the past the group was musically led by Horacio Salinas and politically led by Jorge Coulon. However, in 2001 there was a controversial split of the group, which started when three key members left the group (José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas). They were replaced by Manuel Meriño (from Entrama), Cristián González and Juan Flores. Due to the importance of departed members, many called into question the ability of the remainder to carry on the Inti-Illimani name. Meanwhile, the three departed members started their own group they call Inti-Histórico. From 2005 there are two groups:
Inti-Illimani New (Coulon brothers)
Inti-Illimani Histórico (José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas)
Membership
In August 1967 Inti-Illimani's earliest membership consisted of:
Horacio Durán
Max Berrú
Jorge Coulon
Luis Espinoza
Oscar Guzmán
Ciro Retamal
Pedro Yáñez
In 1968 Inti-Illimani's membership consisted of:
Horacio Salinas (Musical director and main composer)
Horacio Durán
Max Berrú
Jorge Coulon
Ernesto Perez de Arce
Current line-up of the "Inti-Illimani Nuevo":
Jorge Coulon
Christian González
Daniel Cantillana
Juan Flores
Efren Viera
Marcelo Coulon
Manuel Meriño
César Jara
Current line-up of the "Inti-Histórico":
Horacio Salinas
Horacio Durán
José Seves
Jorge Ball
Fernando Julio
Camilo Salinas
Danilo Donoso
Other members in the history of the group:
Ernesto Pérez de Arce
Homero Altamirano
José Miguel Camus
Renato Freyggang
Pedro Villagra
relato 10
Inti-Illimani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
¡no imaginármelo yo
que he vivido tantos años!
¡Lo que es la vida, Señor!
Pero voy a hablar ahora
de otro motivo muy serio
y es lo que vamos a hacer
o con los otros países
por si algunos no entendieron.
The first verse of Inti-Illimani's "Relato 10" talks about the beauty of life and how unexpected it can be. The singer highlights the fact that they have lived many years without imagining the wonderful things that life can bring. The singer praises life as a gift that should be celebrated and appreciated.
However, the tone of the song shifts in the second verse, as the singer wants to talk about a more serious matter. They speak about the actions they will take in "corrales ajenos" or foreign lands. The sense of urgency and the use of the word "serio" implies that these actions could have heavy consequences. The singer wants to send a message to those who might not have understood the meaning behind their words.
Line by Line Meaning
Miren que cosa más linda,
Behold this beautiful thing,
¡no imaginármelo yo
I never imagined it,
que he vivido tantos años!
even after living so many years!
¡Lo que es la vida, Señor!
Such is life, my Lord!
Pero voy a hablar ahora
But now I will speak
de otro motivo muy serio
of another very serious matter
y es lo que vamos a hacer
that which we are going to do
en los corrales ajenos
in other people's yards
o con los otros países
or with other countries
por si algunos no entendieron.
in case some didn't understand.
Contributed by Wyatt N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bastián Patricio Órdenes Durán
Buenísimo