Mexico City

March 19, 1929

No dedication

3’

Picc, fl, 2cl[B♭], 2bn / 2cor / strings

Only one photostat of the autograph has been preserved, in the custody of the Contreras family. However, a large number of manuscripts associated with this work have been found. They include an incomplete set of parts (done by a copyist) and a 16-page sketch (original by the composer), both of which correspond to the autograph. There is also a draft score of a preliminary version for chamber group (blue ink) and some associated instrumental parts. The instrumental parts of the orchestral version were written on staff paper previously used for a film score by Rodolfo Halffter (Entre hermanos). Halffter immigrated to Mexico in 1939, following the Spanish Civil War.

The autograph shown here is a restoration done from a photocopy. Here, the work’s title appears as “Piece for Orchestra,” but in the instrumental parts, it is recorded as “Small Piece.”

Unpublished