Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Italian community in Buenos Aires produced a variety of periodicals and books that had a publicity purpose. Through these texts, a story of the contribution of Italian immigration to the modernisation of Argentina was created and disseminated, following a narrative according to which Italian culture imposed a ‘civilising’ influence on its expansion. Read as a large textual plexus, it is possible to exhume in them the elements of the integral narrative of the interaction between two cultures, in which the artistic issue is revealed as fundamental. In essence, it is a diverse, alternative, foundational narrative in response to the vernacular cultural nationalism with which it competed, to impose certain general guidelines on culture. In order to research the conditions for the creation of this narrative and the internal tensions within the group, I suggest the reading of various text sources that show how Italian artists and critics approached their activity in Buenos Aires and their relationship with its public. Then, I focus on the musical subject that allows us to detect the elements that make up this narrative and the possible disputes over its control.