Jim Pegolotti Program Notes Files

The collection was accessioned in 2 flash drives of Word files (13). Materials were converted to pdf and arranged into two pdf portfolios: 1) Pegolotti's program notes (Danbury Concert Association Notes) and 2) an unpublished manuscript (Writing Program Notes) that includes guidance on writing program notes for classical music concerts. Pegolotti writes: "... program notes are often provided at a classical music concert to help a person understand how the composer came to write the music and something of the music’s structure."

For the Danbury area, Pegolotti provided program notes for the Danbury Symphony Orchestra (1987-2000) then the Danbury Concert Association (1995-2019).

Writing Program Notes is subtitled: Merry Adventures with Beethoven and Other Composers: A primer about writing program notes with plenty of examples. It is divided in three parts. Part I provides "Ideas on making program notes more interesting." Part II is "Examples of program notes for a full concert," of both the Danbury Symphony and the Danbury Concert Association; and Part III is "Examples of program notes for a particular musical work," with samples of notes for works by some 34 composers.

The Danbury Concert Association Notes, etc. include notes arranged in alphabetical groupings: I J.S. Bach to Beethoven; II Berlin/Tatum to Copland; III Danzi to Ives; IV Janacek to Onslow; V Perle to Soler; VI Strauss, J. to Zwilich The Danbury Concert Association presented four concerts a year and featured nationally known performers: pianists, chamber groups and chamber orchestras. The concerts are and have always been at Western Connecticut State, originally in the Ives Auditorium in White Hall, but since 2016 in the Veronica Hagman Concert Hall. James Pegolotti has written program notes for 58 of the concerts from 1995 to 2019. (A few chamber groups supplied their own notes.). The result are notes for nearly 300 different musical works by 86 different composers, All these notes are here in six files, alpha by composer with each work identified as to the performer(s).

Also provided is a complete list of the works alpha by composer, so someone can determine if a specific work has a program note. Beethoven, Chopin, Dvorak and Mozart are well represented, but also many with only one work.