Beschreibung:
<p>During its century-long existence, the <italic>Revue de musicologie</italic> has published some two hundred twenty obituaries, which, taken together, constitute a highly original documentary source for the history of the Société française de musicologie but also for the history of the discipline of musicology in France. Different in nature from the reports, communications, and other musicological news, these necrological accounts bring to life not only the most important figures of the profession, but also their friendships and musicological affinities, thus revealing the networks of their associations. The rubric of the obituary also reveals the trajectory and the variety of the individuals’ careers; it offers a portrait of the society in which the first French musicologists lived and worked. Though it may seem to be an anodyne department reserved merely for homage and friendly recollection, the obituary is not necessarily a neutral forum; its contents can and do reveal something of the official stances taken by the Société française de musicologie. One thus may read there of the importance of sustaining a scientific journal distinct from music criticism and compositional creativity, or of the desire to present the musicological community as a coherent and independent group of scholars whose epistemological principles rest upon a methodical treatment of history. In this respect, André Pirro served as an iconic figure, as he was regularly invoked in the journal’s obituaries. The association thus presented, by means of the rubric of the obituary, a disciplinary model for French musicology.</p>