Sergio Ortega

Sergio Ortega (February 2, 1938 - September 15, 2003) was a Chilean composer and pianist.

Ortega was born in Antofagasta, Chile. He studied composition with Roberto Falabella and with Gustavo Becerra-Schmidt in the National Conservatory at the Universidad de Chile. After graduating, he worked in the Institute of Musical Extension and was a sound engineer for six years in the University’s Experimental Theater, Teatro Antonio Varas.

Ortega was a force for the leftist movement in Chile. Not only did he compose President Salvador Allende’s electoral theme song, "Venceremos" ("We Shall Triumph"), he was also the author of the worldwide anthem of popular resistance, "¡El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!" ("The People United Will Never Be Defeated!"). He was also the composer of the anthems of the Partido Radical (Radical Party), the Juventudes Comunistas (Communist Youth), and the Central Única de Trabajadores. He also turned Salvador Allende’s political plan, embodied in the texts of Julio Rojas, into an album of songs called Canto al Programa, performed by Inti-Illimani.

Ortega composed some of the seminal works of the movement known as the Nueva Canción Chilena (New Chilean Song), a fusion of rhythms and styles with a social conscience. In his work, one can find poems, cantatas, operas, songs, and soundtracks. Among his most famous works are the songs "El monte y el río” ("The Mountain and the River", lyrics by Nicolás Guillén), and "Les deux mers” ("The Two Seas"), and a trilogy about the French Revolution.

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