American Institute of Musicology
The American Institute of Musicology (AIM) is a musicological organization that researches, promotes and produces publications on early music.[1] Founded in 1944 by Armen Carapetyan, the AIM's chief objective is the publication of modern editions of medieval, Renaissance and early Baroque compositions and works of music theory. The breadth and quality of publications produced by the AIM constitutes a central contribution to the study, practice and performance of early music.[2]
Not to be confused with American Musicological Society.Formation
Among the series it produces are the Corpus mensurabilis musicae (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, most notably the complete works of Guillaume de Machaut and Guillaume Du Fay, among many others. The CSM, which focuses on music theory, has published the treatises of important theorists such as Guido of Arezzo and Jean Philippe Rameau.
The AIM is based in Rome, with offices in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1946, the AIM has published Musica Disciplina, an annual academic journal of early music scholarly work. Musicologists who have been particularly associated with the AIM include John Caldwell, Frank D'Accone, Ursula Gunther, Charles Hamm, Albert Seay and Gilbert Reaney.
History[edit]
Armen Carapetyan (1908–1992), an Iranian-Armenian born in Isfahan,[3] graduated from the American College of Tehran in 1927 and studied in Paris and New York, at one point under Gian Francesco Malipiero. Carapetyan then received both a Master's degree and PhD in musicology from Harvard University.[4] At the time, there was substantial research devoted to the literature, architecture and visual arts of the medieval and Renaissance periods, but comparatively little on music of the same period.[5] To address such a discrepancy,[6] Carapetyan founded the Institute of Renaissance and Baroque Music in 1944, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts.[1] The organization became truly active the following year,[6] and in 1946 it was renamed as the American Institute of Musicology (AIM) with a new headquarters in Rome, Italy.[1] The earlier offices in Cambridge remained, however, and the AIM established offices in Dallas, whose publications transferred to Hänssler-Verlag, Stuttgart by 1974.[1]
For its first few years, the AIM maintained an advisory board of noted musicologists from around the world.[1] Such scholars included Willi Apel, Gustave Reese and Egon Wellesz among many others;[7] by 1949, however, Carapetyan assumed solo leadership until his death in 1992.[1] 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.[6] Also part of the original plan,[8] the AIM held advanced course on early music in the summers.[1] The first was near the headquarters in Rome, with the second at the Torre di Bellosguardo in Florence.[8]
The chief purpose of the AIM is to produce high-quality modern editions of early music compositions and works of music theory.[1] Since 1946, the AIM has produced over 650 publications on a variety of topics.[2] These include the complete works of two of the most significant early European composers, Guillaume de Machaut and Guillaume Du Fay.[2] Other composers whose entire surviving oeuvres have been published by AIM include Pierre de la Rue, Adrian Willaert, Jacob Clemens non Papa, Cipriano de Rore, Loyset Compère, Thomas Crecquillon and Romero; modern editions of famous musical treatises include those by Guido of Arezzo and Jean Philippe Rameau.[2] The primary series that the AIM maintains are: