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Musicologists without Borders
The International Musicological Society (IMS) was born on the centenary of Beethoven’s death: 1927. At that time, the idea of music as a universal language was still at its height, modeled on Beethoven’s legacy. It was a unifying idea; after the ravages of World War I, musicologists in Europe sought to establish a common purpose that could transcend enemy lines, open borders, and usher in an international society that would work together to protect and advance the object of their study. The vision was of a global society connected by a music of universal reach. Or, as it states in the statutes:
“The purpose of IMS is to further musicological research in its broadest sense among all peoples and nations”; or to put it in more modern terms, “the advancement of musicological research on the basis of international cooperation.”
As our discipline spread across the world, the universal vision became more colorful and multifaceted. The nature of “international cooperation” changed. Globalization broadened the scope of professionalized musicology to peoples across the entire globe, rendering barriers obsolete and opening the music(s) of the world to the profession. Given this context, the challenge for the IMS now is to be both local and global, celebrating diversity without sacrificing its identity. Today, “international collaboration” is a celebration of differences; it is an all-inclusive vision that is more relational than conceptual, more about people than structures, more concerned with commitment than arrangement. It is about musicologists connected together, animated within a creative network of shared knowledge, good practices, and new sounds. It is in this spirit that the IMS continues to pursue its original vision, facilitating engagement and understanding across cultures in order to enrich its musicological basis.
Such inclusiveness makes the IMS a unique organization within musicology. It is wonderfully indiscriminate: it is not committed to any particular kind of music or type of scholarship but promotes a diversity of methods across the arts and sciences. It recognizes that musicology is different depending on where you are in the world. The mission, from its inception in 1927, was never to colonize but to cultivate a passion for the study of music in every place, so that each locality, in all its particularity, can engage in a connected world of scholarship.
Given our collaborative spirit and inclusive values, everyone who reflects on music can be a member of the IMS. Every member should discover, within our society, the creative frictions and broadening horizons that new encounters and renewed relationships can bring. If this is your vision of musicology, please join us and be a part of its realization.
A view from the Rhine: The IMS was founded in 1927 in Basel where it still has its headquarters. Photo: Norbert Aepli.