De la Vega's music manuscript, "The Magic Labyrinth," has been included in a 733-page volume, Music History from Primary Sources, published by the Library of Congress in July. And two of his pencil-colored graphic scores represent the month of May in the Library's 2001 wall calendar titled "Classical Music."

De la Vega said he was honored by the attention paid to his work by the Library of Congress.

"When I saw the book in August, I cried," de la Vega said.

As for the calendar, de la Vega said he didn't even know he was included until a friend saw one at a bookstore. "Then I went to [a bookstore] and saw a display and thought 'Wow'," he said.

In addition to de la Vega's manuscript, Music History from Primary Sources includes manuscripts of works by Bartók, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Gershwin, Handel, Hindemith, Honegger, Liszt, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Schoenberg, Schubert, Schumann and Stravinsky among other great names in music history. De la Vega is one of only six composers from the United States, and the only Latino, included in the book.

"It is an honor to be included with such beautiful music," de la Vega said. De la Vega was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1925. Trained in diplomacy, he served for a time as cultural attaché at the Cuban Consulate in Los Angeles. After studying with Ernest Toch in California, de la Vega held several significant music positions in his native Cuba, including dean of the School of Music at Universidad de Oriente and music advisor to the National Institute of Culture.

He toured the United States as a lecturer from 1952 to 1959 before settling in Los Angeles, where he became a music professor at San Fernando Valley State College, which eventually became California State University, Northridge.

De la Vega taught at the university for 34 years before retiring in 1993. In addition to his teaching duties, de la Vega was a very active composer and lecturer.

His list of compositions (many published and commercially recorded) includes symphonic pieces, chamber music, piano, solo instruments with tape, song cycles, cantatas, ballet music, guitar and electronic music. Major orchestras, ensembles, prominent soloists and singers throughout the world have performed his works.

De la Vega also has been the recipient of numerous prizes, commissions, awards and distinctions (having received twice the Friedheim Award of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts) as well as honors and decorations from various governments for his contributions to North American and Latin American music.

Only last month he was a recipient of a FACE Excellence Award. The FACE awards were established in 1984 for the purpose of honoring Cuban exiles who have made significant contributions to the United States and other counties.

De la Vega said he is enjoying retirement.

"I have been traveling more than ever and composing more than ever. In a way I am even more completely free to plunge into the music than I was before," he said. "I recommend retirement to people."

De la Vega admitted though that he does miss his former colleagues at the university and the students at times.

"I loved to teach," he said. "One of the most beautiful things you can do is pass on to someone what you know. That communication of giving something to the next generation makes me very warm inside. When you put love into it, the students respond and that's what it's all about."