Four centuries of Mexican songs, set down in notation
Rubén M. Campos’s 1928 study preserves folk melodies, historic photographs and musical scores from four centuries of Mexican musical traditions.
The story
Rubén M. Campos set out to tell the history of music in Mexico across four hundred years, from 1525 to 1925, and to keep the tunes themselves along the way. The book came out with official backing: the Secretaría de Educación Pública published it, the national printing works produced it, and it opens with a letter dated November 18, 1927 from J. M. Puig Casauranc, the Secretary of Public Education.
Campos looks for the roots of Mexican folklore and follows its musical traditions through their history; then he hands over the music. The final section, Cien aires nacionales mexicanos para piano, sets out one hundred traditional melodies for piano, so the tunes the chapters describe can be played. Photographs and portraits of the period show the musicians and bands themselves.
This copy is in its original illustrated paper-covered boards, toned and worn at the edges, with the spine frayed at head and foot, a split along the lower joint and a torn corner on the back board. The sampled pages inside are clean and legible. The title page, the printed letter and the photographic plates are present, but the hundred pieces of music have not been checked one by one.
Details
- Date
- 1928
- Publisher
- Talleres graficos de la nacion, Mexico
- Edition
- México: Secretaría de Educación Pública / Talleres Gráficos de la Nación, 1928; illustrated Spanish-language original edition
- Binding
- paper_boards: Original publisher's printed buff paper-covered boards with printed paper spine; splits and rubbing at lower joint.
- Condition
- Original publisher's illustrated, paper-covered hard boards, noticeably age-toned and worn at edges and corners. Spine shows fraying/rubbing at head and foot, with a pronounced split/tear along the lower outer joint and damage to the lower spine end; lower rear board corner/edge is torn and bumped (close-ups in new photos). Interior pages sampled appear generally clean and legible, with light age toning; a small earlier pencil notation is visible on the front endpaper. Title page, printed prefatory letter, illustrated text and period photograph plates are present. Complete pagination and all 100 musical pieces have NOT been checked leaf by leaf; no guarantee of completeness beyond photographed material.
