Approaching Music Performance Diplomas – Programme Notes for FTCL
Trinity’s refreshed 2026 Performance Diplomas Syllabus continues to require detailed programme notes at FTCL level. For this exam, in both face-to-face and digital settings, the word count range is 1200-1600 words. The content of the programme notes might include the musical and historical context of the pieces, their structure and form, and significant musical elements contained within them.
Why programme notes are relevant
Audiences and examiners appreciate learning about the thinking that goes into planning a programme. Your investigation into the pieces, and the manufacturing of the programme, not only helps the listener’s understanding of the music and performance, but with the additional context, can add another dimension to their enjoyment. Alongside the potential for the listener’s experience to be enhanced, taking time to research and contextually understand the various works being performed can help inform your own interpretative decisions, and provide a wider musical arch to your recital as a whole.
Constructing your programme
Constructing a recital programme is a skill in and of itself. Your programme can comprise as many works as you wish; ideally it will be a balanced programme in terms of musical style, period, character and contrast, as already established at the lower diploma levels and discussed in some of the other performance diploma resources. There should be plenty of scope to establish your own artistic identity whilst also taking the time limit into consideration. (For an FTCL recital, the total required playing time of the performance should sit between 42 and 48 minutes, not including pauses between works.)
The Trinity repertoire lists – updated for many instruments in 2026 – provide a large assortment of styles and genres to select from; however, programme approval can be sought if there are alternative works that you wish to perform, with an instrumental expert assessing whether or not they befit the FTCL performance level.
Essential elements
There are some stipulated details and themes that should always be provided in your programme notes, a basic outline should include:
- The title of the exam
- The name(s) and instrument(s) of the performer(s)
- The date, time and venue of the performance (for digital FTCL submissions, the time and venue of the performance are not required, but may be included if you wish)
- The precise running order
- Full details of the works performed, eg catalogue identifiers (such as opus numbers), movements and composers., the individual timings of your pieces and a total recital timing
- Your notes on each work, incorporating the overall context, structure and musical elements that you have decided to include.
Explaining your research
As you would for a public recital, include relevant and on-topic information about your chosen works, including musical and historical context, information regarding structure and form, and significant musical elements. Whilst this could include quotations or citations from credited sources, poetic description is less useful here.
Although descriptive terminology can be used, excessive use of imagery and metaphors can distract from your main message, which is about musical understanding and constructing your programme. Unless these are particularly relevant to the work(s), it is not necessary to include pictures of composers, or other illustrations.
Use of different sources can continue to inform; here are a few ideas for gaining some extra information on the works you have selected:
- Educational establishments: The Grove Music Online library is a treasure trove of information, and several world-class university and college music libraries complement these resources. Thematic catalogues, whilst only available in specialist music libraries can also include bibliographies on specific works. As well as online digital archives and score repositories, there are physical research collections that can be visited in the UK and internationally.
- Introductions in your purchased scores. Many scores have introductory material and whilst this sometimes can be overly analytical for the purposes of programme notes, there will likely be small but significant details that can be utilised
- Recording notes – if the performance is by a well-known artist, these are likely to be informative whether from a CD sleeve, download store or streaming platform
- Composer societies – these exist to promote an appreciation of the music of particular composers and an understanding of their lives, and many of these publish journals and maintain archives
Presentation
To complement the inclusion of all of the required detail, here are some presentation guidelines that can further assist in achieving a conscientious level of clarity in the programme document:
- Face-to-face exams: An A5 printed booklet is recommended, but any professional format is acceptable
- Digital exams: An A5 or A4 PDF document is recommended
- A clear, logical and uniform layout (consider fonts, indentations, alignment). The appearance of the programme notes should reflect the quality aimed for in every other aspect of the exam. You might like to examine programmes from professional concerts, many of which can be found online.
Singing FTCL
For singers, your programme notes should also contain the texts and translations of each song, ideally in facing columns to allow the reader to cross-refer. Please note that these texts will not count towards the required 1200—1600 words for the FTCL diploma.
Citation, Plagiarism and use of AI
- No particular sourcing system is needed when compiling your notes, but the original author and publication should be cited, either as a footnote, or in brackets within the main text.
- It is not advisable to copy other academics’ work and doing so could result in disqualification. Plagiarism is the theft of the words and ideas of others by portraying them as your own. This is not to say you cannot use quotations and/or short extracts from other sources, but you must cite the author and the source.
- Trinity does not prohibit the use of AI in assignments that are submitted for assessment as part of an exam. However, AI use is not an ideal tool for compiling a unique description of your selected works and would very likely detract from the overall personalisation of the written programme. Failure to declare use of AI resources will be treated in the same way as any other omission of references and be considered as plagiarism, resulting in disqualification. Please see Trinity’s Malpractice and Maladministration policy.
Knowing your audience – a few final elements to consider
Your audiences, both in everyday performances and within the performance diploma sphere, are interested in learning about what you hear as significant about a composition. Choosing which details to illuminate and which to leave out is important – examiners, as listeners, do not require the finer details of the inner workings of a piece, but we would like to know why you have selected it as part of your wider programme. As an overarching goal, you are hoping to guide your audience on a journey throughout your performance, and your notes help provide supplemental details to the route taken.
Overall, it is important to undertake each aspect of your diploma with diligence and conduct sufficient research when putting together your programme notes, allowing yourself the space to produce something of which you can be proud.
