Composers on the Covers of Musica RIPM’s “Illustrations of the Week”
The French journal Musica (1902-1914) was published in Paris by the influential journalist and publisher Pierre Lafitte. Perhaps better known for his illustrated sports magazine La Vie au grand air (1898-1914; 1916-22), Lafitte’s affinity for illustrations is also evident in Musica, which regularly incorporated images of well-known composers and performers with accompanying articles. The journal’s editor, Xavier Leroux, was a composer and longtime teacher of harmony at the Paris Conservatoire.
Today, we present just a sampling of the many attractive illustrated covers of Musica.
Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn
Vol. 8 No. 84 (September 1909); Vol. 13 No. 143 (August 1914).
Richard Strauss and Gabriel Fauré
Vol. 9 No. 97 (October 1910); Vol. 4 No. 34 (July 1905).
Bedřich Smetana and Edvard Grieg
Vol. 12 No. 127 (April 1913); Vol. 6 No. 62 (November 1907).
Jules Massenet and Charles Gounod
Vol. 5 No 50 (November 1906); Vol. 5 No. 46 (July 1906).
Richard Wagner and a singer wearing the iconic helmet of Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen
Vol. 2 No. 13 (October 1903); Vol. 3 No. 23 (August 1904).
RIPM search tip: Musica (Paris, 1902-1914) is available in full-text in RIPM’s Preservation Series: European and North American Music Periodicals. Select the journal in Browse Mode to view its contents according to a specific year of publication, volume number, and issue number. Select the journal in Advance Search Mode to search any keyword within its entire run of publication.
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RIPM is an international non-profit organization preserving and providing access to music periodicals published in more than twenty countries between approximately 1760 and 1966, from Bach to Bernstein. Functioning under the auspices of the International Musicological Society, and the International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centres, RIPM produces four electronic publications: Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals, Retrospective Index to Music Periodicals with Full Text, European and North American Music Periodicals (Preservation Series), and RIPM Jazz Periodicals (Preservation Series, forthcoming).