history of music - · pdf filehistory of music researching and writing programme notes...

History of Music
Researching and writing programme notes
Philip Shields
January 2013

Nature and purpose of programme notes
Should be seen as essential part of concert
preparation and an integral part of the recital
Provide background information on work(s) and
composer(s). Generally includes:
Brief biographical information
Historical context of work and genre
Description of the work itself (possibly
analytical but not too hard-core!)
For vocal works: texts & translations of any
songs or Lieder

Nature and purpose of programme notes (2)
May also include:
Reception history of work
Performance history of work
A well-chosen relevant quote from the
composers or their contemporaries can be
highly effective

Writing style
Not necessarily overly academic, but still needs to
be authoritative, based on reliable sources (which
should be acknowledged if quoted from, but full
footnoting is not required). Your approach to research
will be the same as for essays
While the language used may be more informal than
academic writing, it should not be colloquial, slangy
or too intrusively subjective
Strike a balance: not overly technical (too dry and
hard to assimilate for general readers), but not too
flowery or fanciful either!
Above all, keep the readers interest: programme
notes are read in half-lit halls in the context of a live
performance
Be concise! The main purpose of programme notes
is to communicate effectively essential information to
non-specialist readers

Information sources (1)
Biographical Information: Grove online ; composer
biographies ; contemporary composers own
websites. National music information centres for
various countries (e.g. www.cmc.ie for Ireland;
www.iamic.net internationally
Style and historical context: general histories
(Grout, Palisca, Bukofzer also volumes on specific
genres, e.g. H. Smither History of the oratorio)
Individual works: This can be the most problematic
information to find. Sources can include:
Composer biographies, or books on a composers
genre e.g. Lester Bachs works for solo violin
CD liner notes (evaluate these sources critically)
Naxos Music Library scanned liner notes in PDF
(also not to be used uncritically)
Some record companies (e.g. Hyperion) websites
have their liner notes online
http://www.cmc.ie/http://www.iamic.net/http://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=24713%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVER

Individual works (cont.): some more recent and
scholarly music editions from Peters and Wiener
Urtext can have excellent information in the preface:
e.g. Nichols edition of Ravels Gaspard de la nuit
Songs and lieder: texts and translations in reference
works, e.g. Eric Sams The songs of Hugo Wolf; also
online at www.recmusic.org (the Song and Lieder
Text page)
Reception history of composers: changing
attitudes over time to a composer or work can be
revealed by older editions of a standard work, e.g.
Master Musician series, or Groves Dictionary (we
have all 7 editions ranging from 1879 - 2001!)
http://www.recmusic.org/

Dictionaries of quotations: An encyclopedia of
quotations about music ed. Nat Shapiro (London:
David & Charles, 1978); The Wordsworth dictionary
of musical quotations, ed. Derek Watson (Ware:
Wordsworth Reference, 1991)
Guides to programme note writing
Associated Board: Nigel Scaife, Writing programme
notes: a guide for diploma candidates: a must-read.
Available online
Other guides: Type guide to writing programme
notes into google. Look for sites ending with .edu or
.ac.uk (US and UK university sites)
General writing guides: Richard Wingell Writing
about music (New Jersey, 2002) has a section on
programme note writing p. 91-97
http://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=3073%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=3073%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=3073%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=3073%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=3073%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=22533%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://library.riam.ie/uhtbin/cgisirsi.exe/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=22533%7bCKEY%7d&searchfield1=GENERAL%5eSUBJECT%5eGENERAL%5e%5e&user_id=WEBSERVERhttp://www.abrsm.org/resources/writingProgNotesApr05.pdfhttp://www.abrsm.org/resources/writingProgNotesApr05.pdfhttps://www.google.ie/search?hl=en&tbo=d&site=&source=hp&q=guide+to+writing+programme+notes&oq=guide+to+writing+programme+notes&gs_l=hp.3..0i30j0i5i30j0i22.1620.9438.0.9922.38.30.3.5.5.0.250.2872.18j11j1.30.0.les%3Bcpsugrpqhmoffline..0.0...1c.1.uqBcRFwZj2Ehttp://riamlibrary.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/guide-to-writing-programme-notes-2/http://riamlibrary.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/guide-to-writing-programme-notes-2/

Example Research Bachs Partita no. 4 BWV 828
Find books on Bachs Partitas
Narrow search to Books
Note: Truncation marker $ - finds partita,
partitas etc not violin the not filters out
irrelevant terms (so excludes writings on Bachs Violin partitas)

3 results 2 relevant.

Alternatively, do broader search on Bachs keyboard
music

Broader search: 16 results 9 possible relevant

Search for recordings in the library (could contain useful
liner notes or sleeve notes). Note: the search below
excludes the organ, flute, violin partitas.
Sort by: New to old Brings the most recent recordings to the top of the list

Naxos Music Library contains scanned liner notes in PDF
for Naxoss own label recordings.
Note: Naxos Music Library indexes every
track on each recording, so you can always search for the specific work
Include the term naxos in the search so you only retrieve Naxos own label recordings (most of the others labels do not have CD lines notes in PDF format)

A good source is online liner notes from record companies e.g.
Hyperion, where the notes are often written by established scholars/
performers (e.g. Mervyn Cooke, Graham Johnson, Angela Hewitt)

Other examples Schubert Gretchen am Spinnrade
Hyperion has complete Schubert song edition with excellent and
detailed notes on each by Graham Johnson. Text and reliable
translations also available in the scanned PDF booklet.

Internet sources: general principles of evaluation
Authority
Is there an author? Is the article/page signed?
Authors qualifications and credentials?
Is the page from an organisation with established reputation (e.g. www.indiana.edu)?
For an online journal: is the journal peer-reviewed?
Currency
Check copyright date, if available, at the end of the article
Look at Page last updated info. if available
Links still current? (Broken links are a sign the page is outdated)
http://www.indiana.edu/

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