The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a

musicological Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad musical era for the beginning of Western classical m ...

. Founded in 1944 by

Armen Carapetyan The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music. Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern edition ...

, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

and early

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

compositions and works of

music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...

. Among the series it produces are the ''

Corpus mensurabilis musicae The ''Corpus mensurabilis musicae'' (CMM) is a collected print edition of most of the sacred and secular vocal music of the late medieval and Renaissance period in western music history, with an emphasis on the central Franco-Flemish and Italian re ...

'' (CMM), ''Corpus Scriptorum de Musica'' (CSM) and ''Corpus of Early Keyboard Music'' (CEKM). In CMM specifically, the AIM has published the entire surviving ''oeuvres'' of a considerable amount of

composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Classical music, Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. E ...

, most notably the complete works of

Guillaume de Machaut Guillaume de Machaut (, ; also Machau and Machault; – April 1377) was a French composer and poet who was the central figure of the style in late medieval music. His dominance of the genre is such that modern musicologists use his death to ...

and

Guillaume Du Fay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

, among many others. The CSM, which focuses on music theory, has published the treatises of important

theorists A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be s ...

such as

Guido of Arezzo Guido of Arezzo ( it, Guido d'Arezzo; – after 1033) was an Italian music theorist and pedagogue of High medieval music. A Benedictine monk, he is regarded as the inventor—or by some, developer—of the modern staff notation that had a ma ...

and

Jean Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau (; – ) was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera ...

. The breadth and quality of publications produced by the AIM constitutes a central contribution to the study, practice and performance of early music. Since 1946, the AIM has published '' Musica Disciplina'', an annual

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

of early music scholarly work. Musicologists who have been particularly associated with the AIM include John Caldwell, Frank D'Accone,

Ursula Gunther Ursula may refer to: * Ursula (name), feminine name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * ''Ursula'' (album), an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron *Ursula (crater), a crater on Titania, a moon of Uranus *Ursula (det ...

Charles Hamm Charles Edward Hamm (April 21, 1925 – October 16, 2011) was an American musicologist, writer, composer, and music educator. He is credited with being the first music historian to seriously study and write about American popular music. He al ...

Albert Seay Albert Seay (9 November 1916 – 7 January 1984) was an American musicologist who specialized in medieval and Renaissance music and theory. His publications included critical editions of works by the composers Jacques Arcadelt and Carpentras, a ...

and Gilbert Reaney. The AIM is based in Rome, with offices in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

History

Armen Carapetyan (1908–1992), an

Iranian-Armenian Iranian-Armenians ( hy, իրանահայեր ''iranahayer''), also known as Persian-Armenians ( hy, պարսկահայեր ''parskahayer''), are Iranians of Armenian ethnicity who may speak Armenian as their first language. Estimates of th ...

born in

Isfahan Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...

, graduated from the

American College of Tehran Mandegar Alborz High School ( fa, دبیرستان ماندگار البرز) is a college-preparatory high school located in the heart of Tehran, Iran. It is one of the first modern high schools in Asia and the Middle East, named after the Alborz ...

in 1927 and studied in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, at one point under

Gian Francesco Malipiero Gian Francesco Malipiero (; 18 March 1882 – 1 August 1973) was an Italian composer, musicologist, music teacher and editor. Life Early years Born in Venice into an aristocratic family, the grandson of the opera composer Francesco Malipiero, Gia ...

. Carapetyan then received both a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and PhD in

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

. At the time, there was substantial research devoted to the literature, architecture and visual arts of the

and

periods, but comparatively little on music of the same period. To address such a discrepancy, Carapetyan founded the Institute of Renaissance and Baroque Music in 1944, based in

. The organization became truly active the following year, and in 1946 it was renamed as the American Institute of Musicology (AIM) with a new headquarters in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy. The earlier offices in Cambridge remained, however, and the AIM established offices in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, whose publications transferred to Hänssler-Verlag,

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

by 1974. For its first few years, the AIM maintained an advisory board of noted musicologists from around the world. Such scholars included

Willi Apel Willi Apel (10 October 1893 – 14 March 1988) was a German-American musicologist and noted author of a number of books devoted to music. Among his most important publications are the 1944 edition of '' The Harvard Dictionary of Music'' and ''Fre ...

Gustave Reese Gustave Reese ( ; 29 November 1899 – 7 September 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940) ...

and

Egon Wellesz Egon Joseph Wellesz CBE (21 October 1885 – 9 November 1974) was an Austrian, later British composer, teacher and musicologist, notable particularly in the field of Byzantine music. Early life and education in Vienna Egon Joseph Wellesz was ...

among many others; by 1949, however, Carapetyan assumed solo leadership until his death in 1992. As part of Carapetyan's original plan to include musical performances in the AIM, an early music choir was created in 1947, but soon disbanded. Also part of the original plan, the AIM held advanced course on early music in the summers. The first was near the headquarters in Rome, with the second at the in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

Publications

The chief purpose of the AIM is to produce high-quality modern editions of

compositions and works of

. Since 1946, the AIM has produced over 650 publications on a variety of topics. These include the complete works of two of the most significant early European composers,

and

. Other composers whose entire surviving ''oeuvres'' have been published by AIM include

Pierre de la Rue Pierre de la Rue ( – 20 November 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer and singer of the Renaissance. His name also appears as Piersson or variants of Pierchon and his toponymic, when present, as various forms of de Platea, de Robore, or de Vico ...

Adrian Willaert Adrian Willaert ( – 7 December 1562) was a Flemish composer of High Renaissance music. Mainly active in Italy, he was the founder of the Venetian School. He was one of the most representative members of the generation of northern composers ...

Jacob Clemens non Papa Jacobus Clemens non Papa (also Jacques Clément or Jacob Clemens non Papa) ( – 1555 or 1556) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance based for most of his life in Flanders. He was a prolific composer in many of the current styles, and ...

Cipriano de Rore Cipriano de Rore (occasionally Cypriano) (1515 or 1516 – between 11 and 20 September 1565) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance, active in Italy. Not only was he a central representative of the generation of Franco-Flemish compose ...

Loyset Compère Loyset Compère ( – 16 August 1518) was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. Of the same generation as Josquin des Prez, he was one of the most significant composers of motets and chansons of that era, and one of the first musicians ...

Thomas Crecquillon Thomas Crecquillon or Créquillon ( – probably early 1557) was a Franco-Flemish school composer of the Renaissance. While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably within the region loosely known at the time as the Low Countries, and he pro ...

and

Romero The name Romero is a nickname type of surname for a Roman or an Italian. The name was originally derived from the Latin word Romaeus and the Greek word Romaios, which mean Roman. #A person on a religious journey or pilgrimage from Rome (possibly t ...

; modern editions of famous musical

treatise A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...

s include those by

and

. The primary series that the AIM maintains are: * The ''

'' (CMM), general editor Frank D'Accone, encompasses

and

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century '' ars nova'', the Tr ...

. The series serves as a vehicle for the publishing of the all surviving compositions by specific composers. * The ''Corpus Scriptorum de Musica'' (CSM), general editor formerly Gilbert Reaney, publishes extant musical theory treatises in their original languages, usually

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

. English introduction are provided in each. * The ''Musicological Studies and Documents'', general editor formerly

, consists of modern evaluations, commentaries and studies on early music. The series often includes topics which do not fall under the scope of CMM or CSM. * ''Miscellanea'', created by Carapetyan for materials not appropriate to other series, notably reproducing the

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...

of Rameau's theoretical treatise. * The ''Renaissance Manuscript Studies'', general editor formerly

, contains complete catalogues of early music sources. * The ''Corpus of Early Keyboard Music'' (CEKM), general editor John Caldwell, covers keyboard music until the 17th-century and reproduces them in modern notation.

''Musica Disciplina''

In 1946, two years after founding the AIM, Carapetyan began the ''Journal of Renaissance and Baroque Music'', an annual

for scholarly work on medieval, Renaissance and early

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

. The following year, the journal was renamed as ''Musica Disciplina'' (MD). Articles in the journal include analysis, studies and inventory of

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was created at the time under ...

s relating to early music. The journal does not engage in reviews. Carapetyan was the chief editor of the journal until his death in 1992. Reaney and D'Accone then became co-editors, until Reaney's death in 2008 where D'Accone became the sole general editor.

Selected publications

* * * * * * *

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

*
''Musica Disciplina''
on

JSTOR JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...

* {{Portal bar, Classical music, Music 1944 establishments in the United States Academic organizations based in the United States Music organizations based in the United States Music-related professional associations Musicology Organizations established in 1944 Machaut scholars