Mexican Music Editions begins a new era; "I was abandoned": Lara

▲ Haydeé Boetto, Ana Lara and Consuelo Carredano in the Manuel M. Ponce Hall of the Palace of Fine Arts, during the presentation of the new era of Mexican Music Editions, founded by Rodolfo Halffter and other composers in 1947. Photo by María Luisa Severiano

Angel Vargas

La Jornada Newspaper, Sunday, June 15, 2025, p. 4

"It was completely abandoned ," says composer Ana Lara regarding Ediciones Mexicanas de Música (EMM), one of the most significant cultural projects to emerge during the last century in the sound field of our country.

Now, the publishing house founded in 1947 by fellow Spanish composer Rodolfo Halffter (1900-1987) with the aim of promoting the publication of Mexican music scores, is beginning a new era after remaining adrift for a long time.

The initiative is the work of composers Federico Ibarra, Luis Jaime Cortez, and Ana Lara herself, members of its editorial board. For the past two years, they have been working to revive this cultural enterprise with the mission of contributing to the recovery and dissemination of the national repertoire.

After the death of Mario Lavista (1943-2021) and Víctor Rasgado (1959-2023), former members of the board, in addition to maestro Ibarra, we decided to make the effort to rescue the publishing house , Ana Lara explains to La Jornada.

"It's been an immense task because everything had to be put in order: the administrative and legal aspects... It's been very difficult, but at the same time a pleasure, because we see so much potential in this project. It's enough to know that its collection, consisting of more than 400 scores from 1947 to the present, contains the history of Mexican music."

The relaunch of EMM seeks to preserve its collection, republish it, and make it accessible, according to the creator. Now begins a new era of repositioning; we want to give it a new profile through the use of digital technologies to showcase a catalog that remains largely unexplored .

He explains that, initially, they will revive emblematic works whose scores are out of print, such as Huapango by José Pablo Moncayo; Sones de mariachi by Blas Galindo; the quartets of Silvestre Revueltas; and several pieces by Federico Ibarra, among others.

Catalog of more than 400 works

It's a catalog with just over 400 works, including classics, but also authors who are completely unknown even to us. So together we'll discover several treasures.

Another focus, he adds, is publishing new scores by contemporary composers. There are plans for some by Hebert Vázquez, Jorge Torres Sáenz, and Georgina Derbez. There is also work on unpublished Mexican music from other eras; this is the case, for example, with the quartets of Julián Carrillo. There is interest in doing the same with historical archives, such as that of the Colegio de las Vizcaínas, which, incidentally, currently houses the publishing house's collection.

EMM materials are now available to the public thanks to the alliance with Sonus Litterarum, a multifaceted Internet project dedicated to music, through a virtual store ( https://sonuslitterarum.mx/ ).