Recently I (Melissa) was asked to give the pre-concert chat for the next Saskatoon Symphony performance. So I pulled out Kevin's copy of The Symphony: A Listener's Guide by Michael Steinberg. This book is a collection of Michael Steinberg's program notes from years of writing for the San Francisco and Boston Symphonies. There are two additional books like this one on choral works and concertos respectively (I'm also using the concerto edition for this talk). This is an awesome springboard to use when beginning research.
Musicians in Saskatchewan can borrow it from the Saskatoon Public Library here!