Robert Murrell Stevenson, 96, an emeritus professor of musicology at UCLA and a preeminent scholar who contributed significantly to the historical record of Spanish and American music, died Dec. 22 of natural causes in Santa Monica.
 
During his tenure at UCLA, Stevenson became the founding editor of the Inter-American Music Review in 1978. Now in its 13th volume, it is regarded by many as the finest periodical within the field of American musicology. His scholarly investigations ranged over a wide array of subjects that included traditional, indigenous and popular music of the Americas, African American music, music of the Protestant Church in the Americas, and the contributions of women composers and performers. Among the many classes he introduced at UCLA was an introduction to rock music. 
 
Born July 3, 1916, in Melrose, N.M., Stevenson studied music at the University of Texas at El Paso where he received a B.A. in 1936, graduated from the Juilliard School of Music in 1939, and received a master’s degree in music from Yale University and a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Rochester.
 
He later studied at Harvard University, Princeton Theological Seminary and Oxford University. Among those under which he studied composition, piano, and musicology were Igor Stravinsky, Artur Schnabel and Leo Schrade.
 
He taught at the University of Texas and Westminster Choir College in the 1940s before joining the faculty at UCLA where he worked from 1949 until 1987. He soon established his scholarly reputation with seminal volumes on music in Mexico (1952) and Peru (1960), followed by a trilogy of classics: "Spanish Music in the Age of Columbus"(1960), "Spanish Cathedral Music of the Golden Age" (1961) and "Music in Aztec and Inca Territory" (1968).
 
He wrote nearly 30 books, a vast quantity of journal articles and a large number of encyclopedia entries. He was coordinator of American entries for Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart supplement and wrote more than 300 articles for the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.
 
Stevenson was a recipient of fellowships and grants from the Guggenheim and Ford Foundations, the Fulbright Scholars Program and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He also received a gold medal from the King of Spain and the Gabriela Mistral Prize from the Organization of American States.
 
'Stevenson was an exceptional mentor as well as a researcher and guided 25 dissertations at UCLA and Catholic University," wrote Walter Aaron Clark, a colleague and professor of music at UC Riverside, in his obituary on Stevenson, who was also an adjunct professor at Catholic University of America. "Those who were fortunate enough to do graduate research under his direction felt deeply inspired not only by his erudition and productivity, by the scope and depth of his investigations, but also by his passionate commitment to preserving and promoting a vast heritage of great music."
 
One of Stevenson’s mentees was UCLA ethnomusicology professor Steven Loza, who wrote the following dedication in his dissertation: "There is a man on the UCLA campus who is a living legend. He walks, talks, performs, investigates, writes, and teaches…in effect, he is a metamorphosis of continuity, change, and inspiration to all of us for the future. He is also a genius. He will never tell you so, but we all know so."
 
In his tribute to Stevenson, Clark wrote: "He played a crucial role in moving the Americas from the periphery to a position of central importance in music scholarship. Though he will be sorely missed by innumerable friends, admirers, colleagues and students, his discoveries will continue to serve as a shining beacon for musicologists and performers everywhere."