Rivista Musicale Italiana
An Italian quarterly musicological journal published from 1894 to 1955, with interruptions.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Rivista Musicale Italiana, commonly abbreviated as RMI and sometimes rendered in English as The Italian Music Magazine, was an Italian quarterly periodical devoted to musicological and music-historical scholarship. It began publication in Turin in 1894 under the publishing house of Giuseppe Bocca, at a time when a number of earlier Italian music magazines had failed to establish lasting continuity. RMI distinguished itself by assembling a substantial network of young Italian musicologists and historians and by maintaining publication over several decades despite interruptions, changes of city, and the disruption of the Second World War. The journal's principal intellectual contribution was its support for a more methodical form of music history. Its editors encouraged research grounded in the philological examination of documents and gave particular weight to primary sources rather than relying only on received biographies, traditional narratives, or impressionistic criticism. This approach placed RMI within the development of modern musicology in Italy, where archival research, source criticism, and historically contextualized study were becoming increasingly important. The journal covered music history and related scholarly subjects rather than functioning primarily as a general-interest record review or performance magazine. RMI also had an international orientation. In addition to publishing work by Italian scholars, it attracted contributions from researchers associated with German and French musicological traditions. Early contributors included Giovanni Tebaldini, Alberto Gentili, Luigi Torchi, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur Pougin, Guido Adler, Julien Tiersot, Nicola D'Arienzo, Marie Bobillier, Jules Combarieu, Adolf Sandberger, Carlo Perinello, and Jacques-Gabriel Prod'homme. Their participation connected the Italian periodical to wider European debates about historical method, documentary evidence, musical institutions, and repertory. The first publishing phase ran in Turin from 1894 until 1933, when the periodical was suspended. Publication resumed in Milan in 1936. A further interruption occurred from 1943 through 1945, reflecting the wartime conditions affecting Italian cultural and publishing activity. The journal returned in 1946 and continued in Milan through 1953, before moving to Rome for its final two years, 1954 and 1955. The postwar period included contributions from figures such as Robert-Aloys Mooser, Sebastiano Luciani, Benvenuto Disertori, Nino Pirrotta, Remo Giazotto, Claudio Sartori, Guglielmo Barblan, and Luciano Tomelleri. Rivista Musicale Italiana is therefore best understood as a historical academic publication rather than a contemporary commercial consumer brand. Its significance rests on the continuity it achieved in Italian musicological publishing, its encouragement of documentary and philological research, and its role in bringing Italian and foreign scholars into the same forum. No evidence in the supplied material indicates that the periodical continued after 1955, that it became part of a larger publishing group, or that it maintained a current official website.
History
Rivista Musicale Italiana emerged in Turin in 1894 as a quarterly musicological periodical published by Giuseppe Bocca. Its creation followed several unsuccessful attempts to sustain comparable Italian music magazines during the nineteenth century. RMI achieved greater durability by bringing together promising Italian musicologists and historians and by establishing a clear scholarly identity. The publication promoted the use of newer historical methods in music research. In practice, this meant close philological examination of manuscripts and other documentary evidence, with preference given to studies based on primary sources. This orientation helped distinguish the journal from publications centered mainly on criticism, repertory commentary, or general cultural reporting. The editorial project also welcomed qualified scholars from outside Italy, particularly from France and Germany, giving the periodical a European dimension. The first phase of publication continued in Turin from 1894 until 1933, when the journal was suspended. It resumed in Milan in 1936. Publication was interrupted again between 1943 and 1945, during the wartime period. From 1946, RMI returned to active publication in Milan and continued there until 1953. Its final phase took place in Rome in 1954 and 1955. The contributor base changed across these periods. Early participants included Giovanni Tebaldini, Alberto Gentili, Luigi Torchi, Salomon Jadassohn, Arthur Pougin, Guido Adler, Julien Tiersot, Nicola D'Arienzo, Marie Bobillier, Jules Combarieu, Adolf Sandberger, Carlo Perinello, and Jacques-Gabriel Prod'homme. After the postwar resumption, contributors included Robert-Aloys Mooser, Sebastiano Luciani, Benvenuto Disertori, Nino Pirrotta, Remo Giazotto, Claudio Sartori, Guglielmo Barblan, and Luciano Tomelleri. The journal's historical importance lies less in a mass-market circulation model than in its contribution to the professionalization and internationalization of Italian musicology. It provided a durable venue for archival research and source criticism during a period when music history was becoming a more systematic academic discipline. The available reference material records publication through 1955 and does not establish a later revival or successor edition.
- 1955
Final recorded publication year
[1]RMI is recorded as publishing in Rome through 1955; no later continuation is established by the supplied reference.
- 1954
Final phase begins in Rome
[1]The periodical moves its publication to Rome for its final recorded phase.
- 1953
Milan publication phase ends
[1]The postwar Milan phase concludes after publication through 1953.
- 1946
Postwar publication resumes
[1]The journal resumes in Milan after the 1943–1945 interruption and publishes work by a new group of Italian and international scholars.
- 1943
Wartime interruption begins
[1]Publication is interrupted during the wartime period.
- 1936
Publication resumes in Milan
[1]RMI restarts publication in Milan, beginning a second major phase in the journal's history.
- 1933
First publishing suspension
[1]The original Turin publishing phase ends when the periodical is suspended after nearly four decades of publication.
- 1894
Publication begins in Turin
[1]Rivista Musicale Italiana begins appearing as a quarterly musicological periodical in Turin under the publishing house of Giuseppe Bocca.
Products and positioning
A scholarly Italian musicology journal emphasizing philological analysis, primary documentary sources, and historically grounded research.
Academic musicology journal · 1894
Rivista Musicale Italiana
A quarterly scholarly periodical covering musicological and music-historical subjects. Its editorial approach favored philological analysis of documents and research based on primary sources. The journal published work by Italian scholars and invited qualified contributors from other European traditions, especially France and Germany. It appeared in Turin from 1894 to 1933, resumed in Milan from 1936, continued after a wartime interruption from 1946 to 1953, and was published in Rome in 1954 and 1955.
Sources1 sources
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