In keeping with the attempt to integrate anthropology and history in interdisciplinary study programmes such as “historical anthropology” or “ethno-history,” it has been proposed that the historical and anthropological branches of musicology should be united in the broad interdisciplinary field of “historical ethnomusicology.” This would include “historical musicology,” and what was initially termed “comparative musicology,” which eventually developed into “ethnomusicology”. This article argues that it is necessary to move the discussion from an inter- to a supra-disciplinary level, since the interdisciplinary approach cannot address issues determined by a framework of thought that structures all disciplines which may be brought together. This article examines the context in which the modern disciplines were shaped and their shared presuppositions, with a particular focus on the study of medieval music.