Enjoying the Culture 175the town of Frutillar near Puerto Montt in southern Chile.
It begins the first week of February and highlights both
Chilean and foreign classical musicians alike.
The Pop Music Festival de La Serena (January), the Folk
Music Festival de la Patagonia, in Punta Arenas (July) and the
Folk Festival del Huaso in Olmué, Central Chile (January) are
also well-known musical events.
Claudio Arrau
Claudio Arrau was an internationally acclaimed classical pianist who
was born in the city of Chillán in 1903. He later moved to Europe
to study and remained there until his death in 1991 in Austria. His
recordings of numerous compositions by the masters, including all
of Beethoven’s Sonatas are highly praised and respected.CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
The Chilean music scene has something for every taste,
from traditional Chilean music and folksongs to blues, jazz
and rock. Chile is probably best known for its popular folk
groups. Inti Illimani is the most internationally celebrated
Chilean band. Los Inti, as they are affectionately referred
to in Chile, went into exile to Europe like many other artists
during the military regime. Originally a protest folk group
which used traditional Andean instruments, over time Inti
Illimani’s music and arrangements have become much
more sophisticated. They have incorporated elements of
Latin American and European folk music with New Age
and even classical music. No drive through the Andes is
complete without Inti Illimani playing in the background.
For those who don’t understand much Spanish, listen to
their instrumental CD Imagination.
Quilapayún is the quintessential protest song folk group.
It was very combative early on and some of its songs were
anthems for the revolution, for instance La Batea. Quilapayún
also went into exile in Europe, where its members remain.
With the passage of time their songs have softened somewhat
from their original hard-line stance. Illapu is another group
that incorporates Andean sounds into popular music.
Originally, their songs too, were politically charged. On the