Robert Stevenson's Inter-American Music Review

Abstract

EDITOR’S CORNER Robert M. Stevenson’s Inter-American Music Review : Thirty Years of Landmark Publishing WALTER AARON CLARK University of California, Riverside C ontinuing our tribute to Robert Murrell Stevenson on the centenary of his birth, this short article explores the genesis and significance of his journal, Inter-­‐American Music Review. Though Diagonal: An Ibero-­‐American Music Review bears a title clearly indebted to that of Stevenson’s creation, and though Diagonal seeks to carry on the tradition started by IAMR, it also charts a new course in its reliance on an independent editorial board and external review process. Nonetheless, it is safe to say that without the precedent set by IAMR, Diagonal would not exist. The reasons for this will come into sharper focus after reading the following essay. One of the most significant events in the history of Ibero-­‐American musicology is certainly the launching in 1978 of Robert M. Stevenson’s journal Inter-­‐American Music Review. Unique in conception as well as execution, it became a major venue for leading research on an impressively wide array of topics, covering all of the Americas and related themes in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Inter-­‐American Music Review was notable precisely because there was nothing else like it. Though its name recalls Gerard Behague’s equally important Latin American Music Review, Stevenson’s journal appeared first, and its scope was larger. Numerous distinguished scholars contributed to this journal, though most of the articles were written by Stevenson himself, as were the reviews. According to Stevenson, one of his journal’s main purposes was to provide an outlet for up-­‐and-­‐coming scholars as well, especially those working in marginal areas. The amount of seminal research IAMR featured over three decades is staggering, research that, in most cases, would not have found any other viable venue during that time. Indeed, IAMR was among Stevenson’s most significant and enduring contributions to music scholarship. My goal here is to survey very briefly the history of IAMR, providing an overview of its content and presentation, highlights from its thirty-­‐year career, and insights into its genesis and editorial procedures from the late founder/editor himself. Any survey of its contents, compared with other journals of the late 1970s, quickly reveals why Stevenson needed and created such a periodical: it was the only place the sort of leading-­‐edge, at times esoteric, research he was doing could find a home. It provided an outlet for unconventional research that otherwise would have been difficult or even impossible to place. To be precise, volume I, number 1, of Inter-­‐American Music Review first appeared in the fall of 1978. What was the periodical climate like at this time, and how might that have influenced Stevenson’s decision to launch his own journal, one dedicated to his own issues?