Among the countless objects that Carlos Monsiváis collected throughout his life are numerous Mexican scores from the 19th and 20th centuries, which the writer rescued not only for their musical and aesthetic value, but also for their historical implications.

The complete exhibition is made up of more than 450 illustrated scores, published in Mexico between 1850 and 1950, as well as various works and objects related to the Mexican musical culture of that period. Among the composers of these scores are Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, Manuel M. Ponce, Juventino Rosas, Ángela Peralta, Agustín Lara, María Grever and Gonzalo Curiel, to mention just a few. In the field of illustration, the names of Constantino Escalante, José María Villasana, José Guadalupe Posada, Andrés Audiffred and Ernesto García Cabral are among others.

The purpose of this exhibition, the first of its kind to be organized in Mexico, is to value the work of Mexican composers of that era and to highlight the vastness of their production, even though many of them faced serious vicissitudes such as the continuous state of wars and epidemics in the 19th century or the censorship of some radio stations in the 20th century. Likewise, this exhibition reveals the extent to which music and the publication of its scores influenced the culture, society and emotional life of Mexicans in past centuries.