(Fr. Conseil International de la Musique).
A non-governmental organization created in 1949 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to serve musical creation, performance, education, training, research and promotion on an international scale. This aim is pursued through the exchange of music and musicians between countries and continents, all cultures being regarded as equal; the use of the audio-visual media for the dissemination of music and for musical experimentation; close cooperation with other professional organizations and with the music industry; and the support of international agreements defending the rights of creative and interpretative musicians. Like UNESCO, the International Music Council is based in Paris. It was founded with the cooperation of four leading musical organizations: the International Society for Contemporary Music, the Fédération Internationale des Jeunesses Musicales, the International Musicological Society and the International Folk Music Council (now the International Council for Traditional Music). These were represented on the founding committee by Edward Clark, Marcel Cuvelier, P.-M. Masson and Maud Karpeles respectively; other committee members were Roland-Manuel (president), Harrison Kerr, Albert di Clementi, Goffredo Petrassi, Charles Seeger and C.S. Smith. Subsequent presidents have included Steuart Wilson (1954–7), Vladimir Fédorov (1965–6), Yehudi Menuhin (1969–75), Sir Frank Callaway (1980–81), Barry S. Brook (1982–3) and Jordi Roch (1994–7).
The council has 70 national committees throughout the world and has founded a number of subsidiary organizations, including the International association of music libraries (1951), the International Society for Music Education (1953) and the International Institute for Music, Dance and Theatre in the Audio-Visual Media (1969). The International Rostrum of Composers, formed in 1954, is a forum at which representatives of broadcasting organizations meet to exchange contemporary music. In 1954 there were 16 broadcasts of the works selected; by 1995 this had increased to 600, primarily in Europe, the Americas and Australasia. A similar function is fulfilled for traditional music by the Asian Music Forum (1969), the African Music Forum (1970), the Arab Music Rostrum and the Rostrum for Latin American and Caribbean Music. The International Rostrum of Young Interpreters (1969) promotes outstanding performers, and the International Rostrum for Electroacoustic Music serves composers working in this field. Several independent organizations are affiliated to the International Music Council, including the International Federation of Musicians, the International Federation for Choral Music and the International Council of Organizations of Festivals of Folklore and Traditional Arts.
A series of congresses and symposia was held biennially from 1958; concentrating at first on general questions of musical culture the congresses shifted their emphasis during the 1970s to non-Western music. In 1975 a series concerned with the ‘preservation and presentation of traditional music and dance’ was initiated. A quarterly journal the World of Music, also concentrating on traditional music, was first published in 1967 in collaboration with the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation (renamed the International Institute for Traditional Music); since 1970 several books have been published in the series Music and Communication. Music and Tomorrow’s Public, a study published in 1975 in cooperation with the International Federation of Producers of Phonograms and Videograms, set out the future plans of the council. Nearly 200 recordings of traditional music have been produced in collaboration with the International Institute for Comparative Music Studies and Documentation in Berlin and Venice; they form the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music. In the 1990s the organization began to prepare The Universe of Music: a History, a 12-volume worldwide history of music written by authors native to each region.
The Musicians’ International Mutual Aid Fund was formed in 1974 to mark the 25th anniversary of the foundation of the council; it aims to contribute to the quality of musical life and the well-being of the musical profession in all cultures. Encouraging and coordinating the voluntary efforts of musicians, the fund organizes concerts and other events with the cooperation of broadcasting and recording organizations, awards study grants to young musicians and assists international tours by young performers, thus contributing to the fulfilment of the council’s general aims. As with other areas of the council’s activities the fund has particularly benefited musicians outside the Western tradition. The organization's general assemblies, held every two years in a different country, are always accompanied by a congress dealing with a specific topic.
H. Sass: International Music Council 1949–1991 (Bonn, 1991)