Silent Voices, Sacred Songs

This article investigates the contributions of women to religious music through study of forty-nine music manuscripts attributed to María Téllez Girón, a music copyist active in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Mexico. Preserved in the Mexico City Cathedral Archive, these manuscripts shed light on Téllez Girón’s role in sustaining sacred music traditions amid political and religious upheaval. Her distinctive music calligraphy, authenticated through forensic handwriting analysis and archival research, reveals a repertoire rooted in the devotional practices of Capuchin nuns. A key manuscript, Ejemplos de teoría musical tomados del ABC de Melesio Morales (1896), anchors this study, linking Téllez Girón’s work to broader devotional and musical traditions. The article situates her contributions within the context of Pope Pius X’s Tra le sollecitudini (1903), which advocated liturgical sobriety and active participation, while also exploring her ambiguous status within the convent. Téllez Girón’s manuscripts illuminate the history of Capuchin nuns, who used music transcription and performance as acts of spiritual resistance against political suppression, thus enriching our understanding of the intersections of gender, faith, and power during a period of religious persecution in Mexico.