Robert Murrell Stevenson (3 July 1916 in

Melrose, New Mexico Melrose is a village in Curry County, New Mexico, Curry County, New Mexico, United States. Its population was 651 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The town is losing population due to Rural flight, rural exodus. Melrose is served by M ...

– 22 December 2012 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) was an American

musicologist 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 ...

. He studied at the College of Mines and Metallurgy of the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

(BA 1936), the

Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

(piano, trombone and composition; graduated 1939),

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

(MM) and the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

(PhD in composition 1942); further study took him to

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 ...

(STB 1943),

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

(ThM 1949) and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(BLitt 1954). He taught at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

and at

Westminster Choir College Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's Westminster College of the Arts, the college under which the historic institution has b ...

in the 1940s. In 1949 he became a faculty member at the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

, where he taught until 1987. Stevenson is well known for having studied with

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...

when he was young, and for later being a teacher of influential minimalist

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best kno ...

. His major interest was within the area of Latin American music and he contributed significantly to the historical record of Spanish, Portuguese and American music. He wrote extensively on African-American music and the music of the Protestant church within the Americas. In 1978 he became founder-editor of the '' Inter-American Music Review''; now in its thirteenth volume. His works include nearly 30 books, a vast quantity of journal articles, and a large number of encyclopedia entries. He was coordinator of American entries for the ''

Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik (MGG)'' is one of the world's most comprehensive encyclopedias of music history and musicology, on account of its scope, content, wealth of research areas, and reference t ...

'' supplement and wrote over 300 articles for the ''

New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

''.

Works

Books

* ''Music in Mexico: a historical Survey'', New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1952 (revised, 1971). * ''Patterns of Protestant church music'', Duke University Press, 1953. * ''La música en la Catedral de Sevilla 1478-1606'', Los Angeles, 1954 (Spanish version edited by Sociedad Española de Musicología-SEdeM in 1985). * ''Music before the classic era: an introduction guide'', Macmillan & Co. Ltd. Editors, 1955. * ''Shakespeare´s religious frontier'', The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1958. * ''Juan Bermudo'', The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1960. * ''Spanish music in the age of Columbus'', The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1958 (revised, 1960). * ''The Music of Peru. Aboriginal and Viceroyal Epochs'', Pan American Union, Washington, 1959. * ''Spanish cathedral music in the Golden Age'', University of California Press, 1961 (Spanish version: ''La música en las catedrales españolas del siglo de oro'', translated by María Dolores Cebrián de Miguel and Amalia Correa Liró. Revised by Ismael Fernaández de la Cuesta), Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 1993. * ''Music in Aztec (and) Inca Territory'', University of California Press, 1961 (revised, 1968). * ''Protestant Church Music in America'', a short survey of men and movements from 1564 to the present, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1966. * ''Portuguese music and musicians abroad (to 1650)'', Lima: Pacific Press, 1966. * ''La Música en Quito'', Arnahis, editors, 1968. * ''Music in El Paso 1919-1939'', University of Texas at El Paso, 1970. * ''Renaissance and Baroque Musical Sources in the Americas'', Washington: General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1970. * ''Foundations of the New World Opera: with a transcription of the earliest extant American opera, 1701'', Lima: Pacific Press, 1973. (Spanish version: ''Torrejón y Velasco, Tomás de, La Purpura de la rosa, estudio preliminar y transcripción de la música'', Lima: Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Biblioteca Nacional, 1976). * ''Christmas Music from Baroque Mexico'', University of California Press, 1974. * ''Latin American Colonial Music Anthology'', Washington: General Secretariat, Organization of American States, 1975. * ''Caribbean Music History a Selective Annotated Bibliography with Musical Supplement'', Gemini Graphics editors, 1981.

Recording

* Justo Sanz and Sebastián Mariné. ''Robert Stevenson, Obras para Clarinete y piano, Homenaje al compositor, pianista y musicólogo en su 90º aniversario''. Real Conservatorio Superior de Música d Madrid, CD-06-II, Madrid, 2005.

Bibliography

* * Susan Campos Fonseca. "Robert Murrell Stevenson’s Music(ethno)logical Enquiry: In Memoriam (1916-2012)." ''Ethnomusicology Review'', Sounding Board (Featured Essays), January 28, 2013. * Susan Campos Fonseca. "El corpus músico-lógico de Robert Murrell Stevenson (1948-2008)," research work to qualify for the Diploma of Advanced Studies (DEA), directed by Dr. Begoña Lolo, Ph.D. in History and Science of Music, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2008), unpublished. * Susan Campos Fonseca. "Robert Murrell Stevenson desde las reseñas críticas de sus contemporáneos," ''Revista electrónica de musicología'', Vol. XII-Março de 2009, Universidad Federal do Paraná, Brasil, . http://www.rem.ufpr.br/_REM/REMv12/11/susan_campos_fonseca.htm * Susan Campos Fonseca. "El legado de Robert Murrell Stevenson en la educación española," ''OpusMusica'' 34 (April 2009), . http://www.opusmusica.com/034/murrell.html * Susan Campos Fonseca. "Robert M. Stevenson: los inicios de una musicología fronteriza", ''Música'', Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, Madrid-2010, pp. 168–188. * Susan Campos Fonseca. "Robert Murrell Stevenson: Pensamiento músico-lógico y preguntar «músico(''etno'')lógico» en las Américas", ''Boletín de Música'' 25, Casa de las Américas, La Habana-2010, pp. 93–111. http://www.casadelasamericas.com/publicaciones/boletinmusica/actual/revistaboletin.php?pagina=boletin * Samuel Claro Valdes. "Veinticinco años de la labor iberoamericana del doctor Robert Stevenson." ''Revista Musical Chilena'' 139-40 (1977), pp. 122–39. * Lange F. Curt. "Una nueva revista, un nuevo vocero musicológico de las Américas", ''Heterofonía'', XII/2, 65 (1979), pp. 4–6. *

Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta (born 1939) is a Spanish vocalist and musicologist specialising in Gregorian chant. Fernández de la Cuesta was born in the village of Neila, Province of Burgos, Burgos, Spain. He entered the Abbey of Santo Domingo d ...

. "Robert Stevenson: la Sabiduría de la sencillez," ''Música'', Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid 1 (1994), pp. 12–14. * Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta. "Biblioteca y Archivo del Profesor Robert Stevenson." ''Música'', Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid 4-6 (1997–99), p. 105. * Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta. "Stevenson, Robert Murrell." ''Diccionario de la Música Española e Hispanoamericana'' (Madrid: Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, 1999–2002), Vol. 9, pp. 66–70. * Beatriz Magalhaes-Castro. "Haydn’s Iberian world connections: New perspectives on Robert Stevenson’s contributions to Latin American music studies." ''Ictus'' - Periódico do PPGMUS/UFBA, 6 (2005). http://www.ictus.ufba.br/index.php/ictus/article/view/57 * Vasco Mariz. "Robert Stevenson aos 90 anos." ''Brasiliana'' 22 (2006), pp. 29 – 30. * Luis Merino. "Contribución Seminal de Robert Stevenson a la Musicología Histórica del Nuevo Mundo." ''Revista Musical Chilena'' XXXIX 164 (1985), pp. 55–79. * Michael B. O'Connor and Walter Clark, eds. ''Treasures of the Golden Age: Essays in Honor of Robert M. Stevenson'', Hillsdale, NY: Pendragon Press, 2012. * Soto A. Perez and Miranda P. Perez. "Robert Stevenson y la música mexicana: bibliografía selecta." ''Heterofonía'' 114-115 (1996), pp. 64–69 * Silva E. Pulido. "Robert Stevenson, mexicanista." IAMR X/2 (1989), pp. 93–100. * J. A. Robles Cahero. "Una labor de medio siglo en la investigación musical: entrevista con Robert Stevenson." ''Heterofonía'' 114-115 (1996), pp. 48–63. * Nicholas Slonimsky. "Stevenson, Robert (Murrell)." ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', ed. Laura Kuhn. New York: Schirmer Books, 2001, pp. 1785–86. * Robert Stevenson. "STEVENSON Robert (Murrell)." ''International Who´s Who in Classical Music'', 2006, p. 763. * "El legado de Stevenson, al Conservatorio de Madrid." ''Ritmo'' 656 Año LXV (1994), pp. 5, 18-22. * "A Tribute to Robert M. Stevenson" (Third Annual Study Session of the International Hispanic Music Study Group,

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legitim ...

, 1995). IHMSG Newsletter 2/2 (1996). http://www.dartmouth.edu/~hispanic/v2n2.html * "Catálogo de las composiciones de Robert Stevenson en la Biblioteca del Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid." ''Música'', Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid 7-9 (2000-2002), pp. 187–253. * "Robert Stevenson." ''AMS Newsletter'' 32/1 (2002), pp. 6–7.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Robert 1916 births 2012 deaths University of Texas at El Paso alumni Juilliard School alumni Yale University alumni University of Rochester alumni Harvard University alumni Princeton Theological Seminary alumni University of Texas at Austin faculty Westminster Choir College faculty UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music faculty 20th-century American musicologists 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers