- The programme notes offered on this website can be read and/or reproduced free of charge. The great majority were written for concerts given by the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra; the remainder for other orchestras or for other occasions.
- To navigate the website, click ‘PROGRAMME NOTES’, then on the letter blocks that include the initial letter of the surname of the composer being sought. For example, to locate a note on Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, click on the letter block ‘A-B’. A new menu will appear. Click on ‘Beethoven’. Titles of works by Beethoven will appear. Click on ‘Symphony No. 5’. To return, click on ‘Home Page’, and start again if you wish.
- The notes are intended for concert programmes and for concert-goers. Many listeners wish to learn something of the works they will hear in a forthcoming concert. These notes might help them to prepare in advance and thus increase their pleasure in and appreciation of the music being performed. Technical language is avoided as far as possible. At the same time, it is assumed that readers will be familiar with the basics of classical music and the workings of an orchestra. UK rather than US spelling has been used throughout.
- Copyright rests with the author. The programme notes may be used in full or in part, without charge, but it is expected that authorship will be properly acknowledged. The author would be grateful for notification of their use in concert programmes. Please click here if you wish to get in touch about that or for any other reason.
- The author, William Salaman, read music at Clare College, Cambridge and studied for his PhD at the University of Wales in Cardiff. He has worked variously as a professional French horn player, a school teacher, a university lecturer, inspector of schools and colleges, composer, author and editor. His book Living School Music is published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) and his compositions are published by Cramer, Boosey & Hawkes, among others. He was co-editor of the British Journal of Music Education (CUP) for five years. Currently, he edits books, writes programme notes and, until recently, played horn with the City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra.