The IAML Publications Awards

The IAML Publications Awards Subcommitee, at the 2018 Congress in Leipzig, has announced the recipients of the 2016 and 2017 Vladimir Fédorov Award for best article published in Fontes Artis Musicae and the François Lesure Award for the best review published in the journal.

            The Vladimir Fédorov Award for the best article published in Fontes Artis Musicae in 2016 was given to Sandra Tuppen, Stephen Rose, and Loukia Drosopoulou for their  article “Library Catalogue Records as a Research Resource: Introducing ‘A Big Data History of Music’” (Fontes Artis Musicae 63, no. 2 [April-June 2016]: 67–88). The awards committee stated that “the article was cohesive, easily readable, relevant, of impact, and with sound research.  The impressive project that this article describes has ramifications for cataloguers as they organise materials and for researchers as they look for new ways to do research, sometimes using ‘big data’”.

            The François Lesure Award for the best review published in Fontes Artis Musicae in 2016 was given to Terry Dean for his review of Sergey Prokofiev Diaries, 1915–1923: Behind the Mask and Sergey Prokofiev Diaries, 1924–1933: Prodigal Son (Fontes Artis Musicae 63, no. 2 [April-June 2016]: 151–156). The committee stated that “the review exceeded the awards committee’s criteria of excellence in reviewing, quality of writing, and impact. This fascinating review delved into interesting details from the diaries, such as Prokofiev’s relationships with other musicians, with family, and with religion. You have made a case for the diaries giving a glimpse into the mind of the composer and have added to our knowledge of cultural history in Europe and the U.S.”

            The Vladimir Fédorov Award for the best article published in Fontes Artis Musicae in 2017 was given to Andrea Lindmayr-Brandl for “Early Music Prints and New Technology: Variants and Variant Editions” (Fontes Artis Musicae 64, no. 3 [July-September 2017]: 244–259). The award committee commented that this article “is a fascinating combination of historical and technological approaches, and perfectly fits into all the criteria for the award (excellence in research, quality of writing, and the scientific impact). The article provides a more comprehensive understanding of musical culture through the detailed study of early prints and the printing process, with the technological aspects written in a very understandable way. The innovative project brought together materials from diverse digitisation projects towards the creation of new knowledge”.

            The François Lesure Award for the best review published in Fontes Artis Musicae in 2017 was given to Hayley Fenn for her review of Opera. Complete Archive (Vol. 1 [February 1950]–), which appeared in Fontes Artis Musicae 64, no. 3 [July-September 2017]: 310–312. The review “far exceeded the awards committee’s criteria of excellence in reviewing, quality of writing, and impact. The bright and easy-to-follow writing style was especially compelling, putting the digitisation project and the serial in context, including the brief historical excursion into the origins of the magazine and a comparison with similar periodicals in other countries. Of particular note to the committee was the critical analysis of the transition from the ‘paper’ to the ‘digital’ world of thinking about opera and the reflection of how this affects the listening and understanding of music.