General Guidelines For Writing Program Notes: Department of Music, University of Saskatchewan

Last updated: January 2016 carolyn.doi@usask.
ca
Program Notes Assignment

Department of Music, University of Saskatchewan
General Guidelines for Writing Program Notes

In total, the program notes should be approximately 400 words in length or 75-150 words per piece of
repertoire being performed, no more than two pages in length. Vocal major translations do not count
towards either word length specifications. Students may wish to comment on every piece of repertoire
in the program, or take a more summative approach and speak to several works at the same time.
All works that are consulted in writing the program notes should be referenced in an attached
bibliography. Use Chicago Style, 16th ed. for your bibliography. More information about citing in Chicago
Style and examples of citing musical sources can be found at:
http://libguides.usask.ca/chicagomusic/examples.
For more information about writing program notes visit the Program Notes Research Guide at
http://libguides.usask.ca/music/programnotes.
Research
Excerpt from: Nigel Scaife, Writing Programme Notes: A Guide for Diploma Candidates (London:
Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, 2001).
Structure, content and context of the music

The first step is to consider how the piece works on its own terms by considering all aspects of its
structure and content. This is something that generally happens automatically during the learning of the
piece, but putting it into its wider context and relating it to the musical developments of its period
demands a separate study. You may need to consider issues of performance practice. For example, was
the piece originally written for a different instrument from the one on which you are performing? A
description of the type of instrument for which the work was originally written, together with any
conventions related to the style of performance on that instrument, may enhance the listener’s
appreciation of the music. Reading a book such as The Historical Performance of Music by Colin Lawson
and Robin Stowell (Cambridge University Press, 1999) may deepen your understanding of research into
musical performance.
Listen to other works by the composer and his contemporaries
Listening to other works by the composer and to works of a similar kind is also a valuable activity. For
example, it would be useful for a pianist preparing Chopin’s Nocturne in E to play through and listen to
other nocturnes by Chopin. This will establish what the Nocturne in E has in common with the others,
and those features that make it unique, as well as help with stylistic understanding and identification.
The nocturnes of John Field (which gave Chopin the stimulus and inspiration to write his own) might also
be investigated; you may wish to consider the differences between Chopin’s piano and the modern
instrument; perhaps the view that Bellini was an important influence on Chopin’s melodic style might
lead to an investigation of one of Bellini’s operas, and so on. These kinds of practical activities will help
you to place the piece in a broad historical and musical context. But before that, you will need to learn
that Field and Bellini are two composers worth researching in relation to Chopin’s nocturne.
Last updated: January 2016 carolyn.doi@usask.ca
Background reading
Written sources fall loosely into two categories – primary and secondary. Broadly speaking, primary
sources are documents such as manuscripts and letters that have a direct bearing on the work, while
secondary sources include other materials such as biographies, dictionaries and histories. General
history books, such as Grout’s A History of Western Music (Norton, 2001 with C.V. Palisca), are useful in
providing a broad overview of a musical period or composer. More detailed information can be found in
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition (Macmillan, 2001) referred to as New
Grove II, which is an invaluable and essential tool for the researcher. The bibliographies contained in
Grove will lead to further information, such as biographies and books on specific works. If your library
does not have a particular book that you are looking for, it is usually possible for the library to order it
from elsewhere. Thematic catalogues, such as Köchel’s catalogue of the works of Mozart or Schmieder’s
Bach-Werke-Verzeichnis, should not be regarded as just the domain of serious, academic researchers.
While only specialist music libraries tend to have copies, if you can gain access to them it is usually very
helpful because entries for individual works often include a bibliography on that specific work – a terrific
short-cut to the core material! Many scholarly and good quality editions of music contain introductions,
written by the editor or a specialist, and these can also provide detailed information relevant to a
programme note.
Template
Complete Title of Work
Composer Name
Include here brief factual introduction of the work and composer including
composer birth/death dates, locations, composition dates, premier information,
and dedication information if relevant.
Include in your program notes a balance of information about the historical

and cultural context, key features of the style and affect, and biographical
background of the composer. If you include a quotation or unique idea from
one of your sources, indicate the author, date of publication and page number.
(Smith 2009, 14) Follow up with citing the source in the bibliography.
Ludwig van
Beethoven, (C.F.K.
If you wish to use a photograph or diagram with your notes, cite the source in
Klober, 18 18),
a caption (include the image title and source) and in the attached bibliography. Wikimedia Commons.
Bibliography
Chase, Gilbert. “Musicology, History, and Anthropology: Current Thoughts.” In Current Thoughts in
Musicology, edited by John W. Grubbs, 231-246. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1976.
Everett, William. The Musical: A Research and Information Guide. New York: Routledge, 2004.
http://lib.myilibrary.com?ID=9596.
Everist, Mark. “Grand Opera – Petit Opera: Parisian Opera and Ballet from the Restoration to the
Second Empire.” 19th-Century Music 33, no. 3 (2010): 195-231.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/ncm.2010.33.3.195.
Price, Curtis. “Italian Opera and Arson in Late Eighteenth-Century London.” Journal of the American
Musicological Society 42 (1989): 55-107.

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Last updated: January 2016 carolyn.doi@usask.

Program Notes Assignment

General Guidelines for Writing Program Notes

Structure, content and context of the music

Include in your program notes a balance of information about the historical

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