Holoman - Writing About Music - Programs, Program Notes and Concert Reviews
Holoman - Writing About Music - Programs, Program Notes and Concert Reviews
Holoman - Writing About Music - Programs, Program Notes and Concert Reviews
Concert Reviews
Concerts
6.1 Program Heading. The heading of the concert program should list
the presenter, the performing group, and the solo artists.
University of California, Davis
The Department of Music presents the
UCD EARLY MUSIC ENSEMBLE
David Nutter, director
Jeffrey Thomas, tenor
6.2 Program Footer. The foot of the program should give the time, date,
and venue of the performance. Make certain to include the year,
as this information is required by the tax authorities; without the
inclusion of the year, moreover, the concert program is virtually
worthless as a historical document.
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concerts
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programs, program notes, concert reviews
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concerts
Elegia
Intermezzo interrotto (Interrupted Intermezzo)
Finale
6.9 For works that tell a story, it is helpful to list the incidents in the
program.
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schumann
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A Minor, opus 54
Allegro affettuoso
Intermezzo: Andantino grazioso
Allegro vivace
Panayis Lyras, piano
Intermission
brahms
Symphony No. 2 in D Major, opus 73
Allegro non troppo
Adagio non troppo
Allegretto grazioso quasi andantino
Allegro con spirito
6.12 Jazz Programs. Jazz concerts are often announced from the stage,
with the printed program containing the repertoire from which
the selections will be made.
repertoire
The [San Francisco Jazz] Collectives set list changes nightly. This evenings
selections will be announced from the stage.
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texts and translations
Operas
6.13 Opera Billings. These traditionally include the subgenre (comic opera,
tragdie-lyrique, etc.), number of acts, and name of the librettist.
Vincenzo Bellini
I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Lyric Tragedy in Two Acts
Libretto by Felice Romani
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programs, program notes, concert reviews
Refrain: Refrain:
Chantons la Libert, couronnons Sing we to Liberty, crown we her
sa statue statue.
Comme un nouveau Titan le Like a new titan, the traitor has been
crime est foudroy: struck down.
Relve, relve ta tte abattue, Raise, o France, thy bowed head,
France, tes destins Dieu For God himself has watched over
lui-mme a veill. thy destiny.
trans. DKH
6.15 For long works with text, where members of the audience would
otherwise be flipping back and forth in the program, it is sometimes
graceful to place program order, text, and note together.
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not
Joseph. And he set over Israel taskmasters to afflict them
with burthens. And they made them serve with rigour.
(Exodus 1:8, 11, 13.)
After the tenors short recitative, a poignant chorus of Israels burdens. Cast in
the dark key of C minor, it opens with a brief solo statement by the alto,
followed by the uplifting theme for And their cry came up unto God and
another theme, treated fugally, for they oppressd them with burthens. The
long, haunting chorus returns again and again to the word sighed, palpitating
with the agony of the situation. At the end we hear a simultaneous statement
in all eight voices of the lament rising heavenward.
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rosters of personnel
A dazzling array, says Rifkin, of imitative configurations for the chorus and
violins, supported by the faster-moving bass part and based on a Gregorian
plainsong intonation in use at the time. Bach may have first written the music
as an introduction to the work of another composer.
6.17 Mass and Requiem Mass. When using boilerplate texts and trans-
lations of the Mass and Requiem Mass, cross-check against the
composers actual practice. The texts for the Mozart, Berlioz, and
Verdi Requiems are very different indeed.
Similarly, take care not to present text for numbers or passages
that have been cut.
Rosters of Personnel
6.18 Large Ensembles. Rosters of orchestras and choruses are nearly
always set across four columns, as shown in table 4.
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programs, program notes, concert reviews
the orchestra
Violin I Viola Flute Horn
Cynthia Bates, Deb Thurmond, Susan Monticello David Simpson
concertmaster principal Steve Doo Jon Anderson
Ken Hayashi Karen Yee Richard St. John
Susan Coyle Kathrine Gardner Oboe Beverly Wilcox
Ken Murai Mary King
Judy Riggs Cello Luis de la Torre Trumpet
Alice Swan, Andrew Mollner
Violin II solo continuo Clarinet Arjay Raffety
Henry Hsu, Elizabeth Tucker Jeffery Alfriend
principal Janet Ishida Robin Houston Timpani
Amy Merchant Adam Sapin Darin Wilson
Alanna Battat Bassoon
Joan Cook Bass David Rehman Carrie Brothers,
Gabrielle OByrne Anton Uhle Matt Wong continuo
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rosters of personnel
things the local audience wants particularly to know: the last time
the artist appeared locally, and where he or she might soon be
heard again.
Its perfectly acceptable to select the three or four credits that
will most interest the local audience: a recording with Alan Gil-
bert and the New York Philharmonic, a Bayreuth debut, the Van
Cliburn Prize. (From there one can go on to assume that the artist
has appeared in dozens of illustrious circumstances.) The public is
always interested in where and how the artist was educated, and in
how to acquire any recordings in print.
Give the artists website, if applicable, so that the public can
visit it after the concert to pursue a newfound enthusiasm.
www.bimbetta.com
www.ericsawyer.net
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programs, program notes, concert reviews
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program notes, liner notes
concert performance was given in New York on 2 December 1923 in the French
translation of C. F. Ramuz. The present performances are the first by the San
Francisco Symphony.
The score calls for two tenors and two basses, flute (doubling piccolo), oboe
(doubling English horn), clarinet (doubling E-flat clarinet), bassoon, two horns,
trumpet, cimbalom, timpani, cymbals, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine with
and without jingles, triangle, and a quintet of solo strings (two violins, viola, cello,
bass). The cimbalom is a gypsy dulcimer. It is replaced in these performances by a
doctored piano, an expedient for which a number of Stravinskys own perform-
ances provide a precedent. Paul Connelly is the pianist.
If someone in your family bought a Singer sewing machine early this century,
she (or he) helped pay for Reynard. . . .
6.25 Write, or rewrite, the program note to fit the space available and
the house design values. Think about how the purpose of the note
changes if it will be available well in advance of the concert, or if
it will serve as a source for subsequent essays and reviews. If the
note is primarily for night-of-concert reading, keep it short and
specific. Consider the currently popular device of a sidebar with a
few points to listen for during the performance.
6.26 Listing of Instruments. People sometimes ask why you should list
every instrument of the orchestra when much of every listing is the
same. The answer is that listing every instrument in an established
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6.27 Liner Notes. The same advice applies to the notes accompanying
CDs and other forms of recording, though the space limitations
are often more strenuous still. The craft, of course, comes in the allo-
cating: what needs presenting about Elgars Five Piano Variations
(EMI Classics, 2005) and about Swedish Death Metal (3 CDs,
Prophecy 2009; companion to Daniel Ekeroth, Swedish Death
Metal, Bazillion Points Books, 2008) will have but little in common.
6.29 Concert Titles. This practice has led to the distasteful vogue for nam-
ing concerts: the ubiquitous event that used to be called Candle-
light Christmas and is now a more inclusive Home for the Holidays,
and typically alliterative titles meant to draw you in off the street:
Beethoven Basics; Beethoven, Brats, and Beer; Beer and Ballet;
Broadway and Beerall these from real life. Yes, and Bad Girls
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the concert listing
6.31 Press Release. In the press release that goes with the listing, include,
toward the top, the main reason to come: to hear a beloved work,
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programs, program notes, concert reviews
to hear an unusual work, to see and hear the next great Carmen,
to see and hear the ondes Martenot. An enthusiastic direct quo-
tation often works: We thought it was time to try the hall inthis
configuration. It is mandatory to include the ticket price or price
range, however expensive (or not), and references for further infor-
mation, including, for the working press, how to arrange interviews
and pictures.
Few people read to the end of longer pieces unless there is sub-
stantial local interest. Dont exceed two pages.
Reviews
6.32 To be sure, we are now far afield, but since anybody doing enough
writing about music to be reading this volume will sooner or later
be asked to review a concert, and since the craft is dying out . . .
Robert Commanday, the greatly admired reviewer emeritus for
the San Francisco Chronicle, circulates an essay on his thoughts
for writers he recruits to the e-zine he founded, San Francisco
Classical Voice, sfcv.org. Here he writes that the purpose of music
criticism in general is to engage the readers in the experience,
stimulating them to a sense of participation in the process. The
writers love for the arts and the performing medium should come
through in terms of enthusiasm, passion, and feeling, as well as in
the explanation that accompanies the description.
Rules 6.3339, then, are Commandays commands.
6.33 Open with your best point. Resist backing into a review, that
is, starting with background narrative and writing along until arriv-
ing at the real point, a practice often encountered when reviewers
were overnighting, writing reviews to be published the morning
after the event. This led to prewriting the first several paragraphs.
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finally . . .
6.36 Length. Some 500 to 800 words will usually do. Some events
deserve less; multiple performances and festivals might call for
more.
6.38 If the level of a performance is beneath review, you can bail out.
Finally . . .
6.40 Nothing makes a presenter look so unqualified as error-filled pub-
lications for the concertgoing public; nothing gives a public event
more style than classical elegance and correctitude. In the days
leading up to submitting this manuscript I noted the following:
Brahms Requiem, Brandenburn Concerto, Der Rosenkavelier,
Emporer Quartet, La Bohme, Mrs. H. L. A. Beach.
My experience is that the citizenry is quick to notice these
things. People are watching.
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