Borrowing its title from an international congress organized in 2017 in the city of Baeza, Spain, De Nueva España a México: El universo musical mexicano entre centenarios (1517–1917) came to light in 2020 during a flurry of activities commemorating the five hundredth anniversary of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec capital (1521), the bicentennial of Mexico’s independence from Spain (1821), and the centennial of the Mexican revolution (1910–17). The ambitious chronological framing of the title, which is more than a little factitious, results in a hefty volume (available gratis online as a PDF)1 that brings together texts of different lengths and calibers, as conference proceedings often do.

The difference between a conference and a book is key. In the former, the horizon is crowded with trial balloons; the title or organizing principle serves as an invitation to launch them; and the format abounds in opportunities for comparison, feedback, dialogue,...

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