Program notes introduce the audience to works to they might not know and to understand the works in greater depth if they are already somewhat familiar with them.

General

Certainly, at the college level the performer is expected to write the program notes. When they submit them for approval varies. Sometimes high school juniors or seniors write their own, with help from their teachers.

Ask if there are guidelines to follow.

If you are playing all movements of a multi-movement work (sonata) or some from a collection (Bach French Suite), you must write about all movements separately.

You want to "set the stage" with some information that helps the listener to "place" the piece chronologically; and to compare it to the composer's other pieces. Then you discuss the form of the piece and how the composer uses the basics of construction and harmonic movement; and how he makes changes. Big changes or small ones? What are the result of these changes? In this piece? In subsequent pieces? In pieces by later composers?

Content of Program Notes

• Composer's name, plus the opus number, Köchel number (for Mozart), or whatever other identifying system is used top catalogue the composer's works. Modern composers' works often are identified only by the year. Make sure to include the key of the piece.
• Try to find the date of composition. You may not be able to find something specific, so say "between the years __ and __."
• If the piece is dedicated to someone, find out something about that person. (A friend? A patron? A teacher? A spouse?)
• Can you find where the piece was written?
• Is the piece part of a collection? (Schumann's Kinder Scenen, for example.)

This "consumer information" is a hook to the reader to journey with you into more detail.

For each movement or piece:

• What the is form? (ABA? Theme and variations? How many variations? Sonata form?)
• In what key is the movement? How does this key compare to that of the other movements? Is this an example of something a composer often does? (For example, Beethoven likes keys that are a second apart. In the "Moonlight" Sonata, the first movement is in C-sharp Minor and the second is in D-flat Major. This is an enharmonic spellilng, so the keys are actually in a parallel major and minor relationship, though the eye "sees" the key signatures as a second apart. John Rutter loves seconds, too, both melodic and harmonic.)
• Same with meter/time signature and tempo.
• What is the mood of the movement? (Rollicking? Sad? Romantic? Somber? Mysterious? Lively?) How does this compare to the other movements?
• What is the harmonic movement between sections? In Mozart, for example, the first section opens in I (usually) and works toward V (usually). He then usually has a repeat. After the repeat the music opens in V and works its way back to I. Does the second section open in V (major) or v (minor)? Or is it something else, such as IV?

Overall:

• Does the composer use a theme in more than one movement? Perhaps it is part of a theme; or fragment of it; or an inversion (where the first theme, for example, goes up a third and down a fifth - the inversion would go down a third and up a fifth).
• Is this piece similar in style or construction to another one of the composer's earlier pieces? Which one/s?
• Does this piece influence a piece written later? Which one/s?
• Does this piece show the influence of an earlier composer? Who?
• How does this piece influence later composers? What is the significance of this piece? (Is it the first piece to exhibit a new style or form? Is it the last of this type written by the composer? Did it influence another composer (if so, who and in which pieces?)?

Add any other personal observations made while learning the piece.

Your teacher or professor probably will have other suggestions or requirements.

Where to Find Information

Everything you read on the Internet may not be true - remember that nobody checks that whatever someone puts up is correct, for example, in Wikipedia. Use this resource with care; try to corroborate from another source. Be careful, however, even in this, as often one source will copy directly - word for word, even! - from another site. So, you find the same material on several sites, attributed to several authors, all of which has been copied from one site and is therefore useless for purposes of corroboration.

I could write about nuclear physics, about which I know nothing, and you wouldn't have any idea I knew nothing if you also knew nothing and were trying to find out about nuclear physics!

That's why it's vital to go to traditional, reliable sources that are backed by excellent scholarship by proven experts and have been read and corrected by numerous other excellent scholars.

Grove's Dictionary of Music
Harvard Dictionary of Music
Baker's Dictionary of Music and Musicians
Music in Western Civilization (Lang) This is a general music history book, but a good source for information to use for "setting the stage."

There are many other music history texts. Also see specific resources for the period in question: Music in the Middle Ages (Reese), Music in the Renaissance (Reese), Music in the Baroque Era (Bukofzer), Baroque Music (Palisca), Performance Practices in Classical Piano Music (Rosenblum), and so on. Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature (McGrath) This is primarily a resource guide for teachers, but you can get dates and some general information from it.

Be careful, also, about introductory material in your music books. We hope that it was written by an excellent scholar, but sometimes we don't know who wrote it. Sometimes it's someone we've never heard of. (Maurice Hinson is always reliable.) Be particularly wary of commentary on Bach; better to go to Grove's.

Again, your teacher/professor will have other suggestions for resources.

copyright 2009, Martha Beth Lewis, Ph.D.
Contact me for reprint permission.