Infancy and youth

Patricio Manns was born in the rural town of Nacimiento, in the south of Chile on 3 August 1937. He is the son of a primary school teacher and an agricultural engineer of German descent. Both of his parents were also involved in music: his father was a jazz aficionado and his mother studied classical piano.[1] His mother was also central in cultivating his interest in literature. In his youth he took up a broad range of occupations: from coal miner in Lota to reporter for the daily newspaper La patria in Concepción. At the beginning of the 1960s he moved to Santiago where he continued his journalistic work.

[edit] Early music career

He was initiated in the field of music when he composed Bandido in 1959, which was recorded in Argentina in 1962 by the folk group Los Travadores del Norte and in Chile by Los Cuatro Cuarto. But it was with the composition "Arriba en la cordillera" (Up in the Cordillera) in 1965 that he achieved national fame - especially when it was released in the album, Entre Mar y Cordillera (Between Sea and Cordillera) in 1966 which was a massive success.

Manns was a founding member, with Rolando Alarcón and the Parras (the children of Violeta Parra: Isabel and Ángel Parra) of the Peña of Carmen 340 (later known as the Peña of the Parras), which was joined a few months afterwards by Víctor Jara. These peñas laid the groundwork and served as a crucible where progressive neo-folklore transformed itself into the "Nueva Canción Chilena" (NCC) (New Chilean Song) movement – a folkloric renaissance which led to a revolution in the popular music of the country. At the time of the military coup of September 11, 1973 - which toppled the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende - the NCC had acquired a nation-wide mass following with NCC artists touring the world as cultural ambassadors.

Manns would go on to actively participate in the extensive production of a series of travelling shows called Chile Rie y Canta (Chile Laughs and Sings) which were organised throughout Chile by René Largo Farías. In this early period of his career Manns also composed a cantata: El Sueño Americano (The American Dream) (1965) which he recorded with the folk group Voces Andina – this was one of the first cantatas to be heard in Latin America that traced - via the amalgamation of distinctive rhythmic elements from different regions of the sub-continent – the historical birth of Latin America. Song XII of the cantata "América Novia Mia" ("America My Bride") has been recorded by himself and Inti-illimani several times. During this period he also recorded ¡El Folclore No Ha Muerto, Mierda! (Folklore Hasn't Died, Dammit!) (1968) with Silvia Urbina which revived folkloric forms which were disappearing under the influence of foreign musical trends that were being popularized in Chile.

From his multi-faceted role as singer, composer, writer and journalist he actively collaborated in the presidential campaigns of Dr. Salvador Allende in 1964 and in 1970, the latter being the campaign that led Salvador Allende to the presidency as the leader of the Unidad Popular government. During this time he recorded the album Patricio Manns (1971) which included one of his best known compositions "Valdivia en la niebla" (Valdivia in the fog) and the prophetic "No Cierres los Ojos" ("Don't Close Your Eyes"). This recording, which was accompanied by Inti-illimani, Los Blops, the Symphony Orchestra of Chile and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Santiago, was arranged by Luis Advis.

[edit] Life in exile

The military coup of September 11, 1973 found him in Chile and it was only due to international diplomatic mediation that he was able to safely leave his country. Late in 1973, Manns settled in Cuba where he began a life in exile that was to last decades. During his period in the Caribbean island he composed and recorded together with the Symphony Orchestra of Cuba "Cuando Me Acuerdo de Mi País" ("When I Remember My Country") and other songs that were featured in his LP Canción sin Limites (Limitless Songs). He collaborated with Humberto Solás with the script for the movie La Cantata de Chile (Cantata of Chile) (1976) and also wrote the text for the musical work of Leo Brouwer which the movie was named after.

"Karaxú Live" recorded in Hamburg in the former GFR in September 1975. The album cover features the Chilean revolutionary, Miguel Enriquez, with Che Guevara in the background.

From Cuba he travelled to France where he settled and formed the ensemble Karaxú in 1974 with which he continued to musically collaborate with Cuban artists. From exile Manns launched his "struggle against the Pinochet dictatorship" becoming a spokesman of the Chilean resistance with music productions such as Canción sin Limites (Limitless Songs) (1977) and perhaps with more vigour in Chansons de la Résistence Chilienne (Songs of the Chilean Resistance) (1974). In this stage of exile he met Alejandra Lastra (1979) to whom he composed the famous "Balada de los Amantes del Camino de Tavernay" ("Ballad of the Lovers of Tavernay Road") (1985) - Manns had moved and settled with his partner in Chemin de Tavernay in Geneva in the course of 1979.

As the musicologist Juan Pablo González has stated: "…in his 27 years of exile, Manns established with Horacio Salinas one of the most fruitful creative collaborations in the history of Chilean music".

This collaboration began to take form in the works of Inti-illimani, in compositions such as "Retrato" ("Portrait") or "Vuelvo" ("I Return") – both from 1979. From this period of work with Salinas and Inti-illimani we find the grains of songs which with time would grow to become true emblems of the Latin America folk/popular music repertoire: such as "El Equipaje del Destierro" ("The Luggage of Exile"), "Palimpsesto" ("Palimpsest") (1981), "Cantiga de la Memoria Rota" ("Verses for a Shattered Memory") and "Samba Landó" (1985). Subsequently, other songs of this collaborative period included "Medianoche" ("Midnight"), "Arriesgare mi piel" ("I'll Risk My Skin") (1996) and "La Fiesta Eres Tú" ("You Are the Party") (1998).

In 1984 he moved to Trez Vella in Echenevex, close to the French-Swiss border. In this stage of exile Manns reached a high point in his creativity with the Concert of Trez Vella, a piece that was arranged by Alejandro Guarello and he recorded it with Inti-illimani in Rome 1985. This work with Inti-illimani appeared in his second album with Inti-Illimani: Con la Razón y la Fuerza (With Reason and Force) (1982) and La Muerte no Va Conmigo (Death Doesn’t Walk With Me) in 1986.

[edit] The re-encounter

After 17 years of exile Manns began his return to Chile in 1990, touring and performing throughout the country. The tour started on 23 August in the Teatro Teletón and on the 24th in the Estadio Chile (now renamed Estadio Víctor Jara). On TVN, he performed for the first time in Chile his emotionally charged "Cuando Me Acuerdo de Mi País" ("When I Remember My Country") before an anxious public in the studio and before a nationwide audience. From this tour of Chile, which included Santiago, Concepción, Valparaíso and Viña del Mar, Manns would comment: "… for now I have accomplished the basic priority of setting foot in my country again". The second step, the definitive return was only to be in 2000, when he decided to return and settle in Chile in the area of Concón.

[edit] Present and future

The creative and artistic collaboration between Manns and Horacio Salinas]continues with works interpreted by Inti-illimani such as "La Rosa de los Vientos" ("Rose of the Winds") (1999) and Cantares del Mito Americano (Songs on the American Myth) an unrecorded work that was performed in the Teatro Municipal of Viña del Mar in 2001. Horacio Salinas collaborated with Manns in the production of his first record as a soloist "Remos en el Agua" ("Oars on the Water") released in November 2003. Manns also participated in Inti-Illimani's DVD Lugares Comunes (Common Places) recorded live in the Estadio Nacional de Chile. Manuel Meriño put music to Manns now famous poem "Vino del Mar" ("She Came from the Sea") dedicated to Marta Ugarte one of the victims of the Chilean military dictatorship, song which was recorded by Inti-Illimani's. Lugares Comunes (Common Places) in 2003.

During the four century celebration of the city of Nacimiento in December 2003, Manns was named an "illustrious son" of this city.

In September 2003 he launched his work Allende: la Dignidad Se Convierte en Costumbre (Allende: When Dignity Becomes a Custom) in the Estadio Nacional in homage to President Salvador Allende.

In 2005 he recorded with the Ulli Simon Ensemble in Germany; in 2006 he collaborated in composing songs for Inti-Illimani's CDs Pequeño Mundo (Small World) and Esencial (Essential). He also recorded a CD with Mexican rancheras and corridos for a musical production of the Banco del Estado (Chile's State Bank). He also recorded a CD of ballads and boleros titled Porque Te Amé (Because I Loved You) which was highly received in countries like Mexico and Peru.

Currently Manns lives in Central Chile where he has focused on the development of his literary career.

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