Library: Music Databases: Program Notes

Program Notes Sources

Writing high quality program notes can be difficult because information about pieces (especially more modern ones) tends to be hard to find in one place. There are many sources that you can use to find accurate information about the works you choose to perform, you just have to know where to look! Sample sources could include:

Oxford Music Online - Grove Music Online
Full-text access to the following standard reference sources: The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music.(3 simultaneous users).
Naxos Music Library
Access limited to 10 users at a time
An online library of 75,000+ tracks of music. Includes classical, world music, jazz, and national anthems. Also offers a number of text resources including overviews of music history, program notes for recordings, and the complete libretti of operas.
Other
Scores
Recordings & liner notes
Music dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, chronologies, repertoire guides, & bibliographies
Journal articles
Correspondence & diaries
Blogs & composer websites with trusted sources

Writing Program Notes

Content

High quality program notes give your audience information about any combination of the following:

Composer
Piece
Context
Expectations
Interpretation

Organization

Many people find it helpful to organize program notes into three sections*:

Brief introduction to the composer.
Information about the work's historical context and the circumstances surrounding its composition.
Description of the work itself.

*Nigel Scaife, Writing Programme Notes: A Guide for Diploma Candidates (London: Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 2001), 7.

Information

Some basic questions that you might want to answer include:

When and where was the composer born? When and where did they die (if they have)?
What are they best known for? What is their most significant contribution to music history?
When was the piece written? What else was going on in their life or the world around them at that time?
What other works did the composer write in the same/similar genre(s)?

Details

A further level of detail might need to be added, such as:

Titles of movements.
Structures/forms used in the piece/movements.
Terminology/jargon that the average listener may not know.
Anything that you would like the listener to listen for during the performance.

Personalization

As the performer, you (should) have your own interpretation of the pieces you will be performing. You might want to comment on this interpretation, especially if it is unconventional, and how you reached your decision.

It is also acceptable to comment on any meaning that a piece might hold for you.

Citations

Yes, you have to cite your sources. Turabian style is preferred.

...the fair use of a copyrighted work...for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.*

*US Copyright Office. Circular 92, "Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code," Chapter 1, Section 107, Washington, DC: US Copyright Office, 2008. 6 March 2009. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107

Program Notes Guides

A Short Guide to Writing about Music by Jonathan D. Bellman
Call Number: UW-Parkside Library Stacks ML3797 .B4 2007
ISBN: 0321187911
Publication Date: 2006-04-20
Written in a clear and conversational style, A Short Guide to Writing About Music,2e examines a wide range of writing assignments for music courses at all levels of the undergraduate curriculum. Employing a variety of writing samples as a means to illustrate effective writing, this brief and inexpensive text teaches writers how to deftly research and write about music.
Writing about Music by Richard Wingell
Call Number: UW-Parkside Library Stacks ML3797 .W54 2002
ISBN: 0130406031
Publication Date: 2001-11-09
This guidebook provides practical and specific assistance to undergraduate students about writing research papers and other types of projects in the field of music. It also offers practical help in writing effective prose on any topic and ways to improve one's writing style. The Third Edition has been extensively revised and rewritten. The organization of the material has been changed in order to present issues in a more logical order. There are expanded sections on new approaches to musicological research, electronic resources for research, and how to use word processing programs to draft and edit a paper. The section on format issues has been revised and expanded to make the detailed information it offers clearer and more useful. Finally, a new sample student paper has been included in the Appendix, along with discussion questions designed to help students analyze the paper, read more critically, and understand better the process of researching a topic, designing a paper, and arguing a thesis persuasively.

Online Program Notes

NY Philharmonic Program Notes
1.Click on "Concerts and Tickets" then "Calendar" on the main taskbar towards the top of the page.
2. FInd an event and click on "Event Details."
3. Click on "Program," which should automatically scroll the page down to where you can finally find program notes.
You can also find the latest list of current season program notes under "Plan Your Visit" then "How to Prepare."
Chicago Symphony Program Notes
"Program Notes engagingly describe the works being performed and the histories and personalities behind the music. Program Books include the notes as well as articles about the music and about Riccardo Muti, the CSO’s pre-eminent music director, the CSO’s world-renowned musicians and esteemed guest artists and ensembles."
San Francisco Symphony Program Notes
"Each week, thousands of San Francisco Symphony concert-goers open their programs to read about the drama, the passion, and the inspiration behind the music they’re hearing. You can read our critically acclaimed program notes online one week prior to select concerts."
Program Notes by Linda Mack
"This website indexes program notes that I have written since 1991 for various types of concerts. Audience, size of program, and advance notice given to the author have all influenced their length and complexity."
Madison Symphony Program Notes by J. Michael Allsen
"Allsen has written program notes for the Madison Symphony Orchestra since 1984. He has also written commissioned notes for dozens of orchestras, ensembles and festivals, as well as CD liner notes. His program notes have been published by orchestras and choruses across the United States, and in Canada, England, Scotland, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Israel, and Zimbabwe."
Program Notes Wiki
A smattering of user-contributed program notes. Usual caveats apply. If you write some good notes, you might want to add them to the collection!
Playbill Vault
"Search the largest Broadway database online."

Music Databases