diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.cc b/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.cc
index 43bf320be8..ce8d76c57e 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.cc
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ Gtk::Widget &
 TextMetadataField::name_widget ()
 {
 	label = Gtk::manage (new Gtk::Label(_name + ':'));
-	label->set_alignment (1, 0.5);
+	label->set_alignment (1, 0);
 	return *label;
 }
 
@@ -117,6 +117,44 @@ TextMetadataField::update_value ()
 	_value = entry->get_text ();
 }
 
+/* LongTextMetadataField */
+
+LongTextMetadataField::LongTextMetadataField (Getter getter, Setter setter, string const & field_name, guint width ) :
+  TextMetadataField (getter, setter, field_name, width)
+{
+	tview = 0;
+	label = 0;
+	value_label = 0;
+}
+
+MetadataPtr
+LongTextMetadataField::copy ()
+{
+	return MetadataPtr (new TextMetadataField (getter, setter, _name, width));
+}
+
+Gtk::Widget &
+LongTextMetadataField::edit_widget ()
+{
+	tview = Gtk::manage (new Gtk::TextView());
+
+	tview->get_buffer()->set_text (_value);
+	tview->set_wrap_mode (Gtk::WRAP_WORD);
+	tview->set_size_request (-1, 400);
+	tview->set_editable (true);
+
+	Glib::RefPtr<Gtk::TextBuffer> tb (tview->get_buffer());
+	tb->signal_changed().connect (sigc::mem_fun(*this, &LongTextMetadataField::update_value));
+
+	return *tview;
+}
+
+void
+LongTextMetadataField::update_value ()
+{
+	_value = tview->get_buffer()->get_text ();
+}
+
 /* NumberMetadataField */
 
 NumberMetadataField::NumberMetadataField (Getter getter, Setter setter, string const & field_name, guint numbers, guint width) :
@@ -167,7 +205,7 @@ Gtk::Widget &
 NumberMetadataField::name_widget ()
 {
 	label = Gtk::manage (new Gtk::Label(_name + ':'));
-	label->set_alignment (1, 0.5);
+	label->set_alignment (1, 0);
 	return *label;
 }
 
@@ -307,7 +345,7 @@ Gtk::Widget &
 EAN13MetadataField::name_widget ()
 {
 	label = Gtk::manage (new Gtk::Label(_name + ':'));
-	label->set_alignment (1, 0.5);
+	label->set_alignment (1, 0);
 	return *label;
 }
 
@@ -569,6 +607,7 @@ SessionMetadataDialog<DataSet>::init_data ( bool skip_user )
 	init_album_data ();
 	init_people_data ();
 	init_school_data ();
+	init_description_data ();
 
 	for (DataSetList::iterator it = data_list.begin(); it != data_list.end(); ++it) {
 		(*it)->set_session (_session);
@@ -666,6 +705,20 @@ SessionMetadataDialog<DataSet>::init_user_data ()
 
 }
 
+template <typename DataSet>
+void
+SessionMetadataDialog<DataSet>::init_description_data ()
+{
+	DataSetPtr data_set (new DataSet (_("Description")));
+	data_list.push_back (data_set);
+
+	MetadataPtr ptr;
+
+	ptr = MetadataPtr (new LongTextMetadataField (&ARDOUR::SessionMetadata::description, &ARDOUR::SessionMetadata::set_description, _("Description")));
+	data_set->add_data_field (ptr);
+}
+
+
 template <typename DataSet>
 void
 SessionMetadataDialog<DataSet>::init_track_data ()
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.h b/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.h
index e7df63d6b9..72e56effc5 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.h
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/session_metadata_dialog.h
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include <gtkmm/liststore.h>
 #include <gtkmm/notebook.h>
 #include <gtkmm/table.h>
+#include <gtkmm/textview.h>
 #include <gtkmm/treemodel.h>
 #include <gtkmm/treeview.h>
 
@@ -75,7 +76,7 @@ protected:
 /// MetadataField that contains text
 class TextMetadataField : public MetadataField
 {
-private:
+protected:
 	typedef std::string (ARDOUR::SessionMetadata::*Getter) () const;
 	typedef void (ARDOUR::SessionMetadata::*Setter) (std::string const &);
 public:
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ public:
 	Gtk::Widget & name_widget ();
 	Gtk::Widget & value_widget ();
 	Gtk::Widget & edit_widget ();
-private:
+protected:
 	void update_value ();
 
 	Getter getter;
@@ -101,6 +102,20 @@ private:
 	guint width;
 };
 
+/// MetadataField that contains longform text
+class LongTextMetadataField : public TextMetadataField
+{
+public:
+	LongTextMetadataField (Getter getter, Setter setter, std::string const & field_name, guint width = 50);
+	MetadataPtr copy ();
+
+	Gtk::Widget & edit_widget ();
+private:
+	void update_value ();
+
+	Gtk::TextView* tview;
+};
+
 /// MetadataField that accepts only numbers
 class NumberMetadataField : public MetadataField
 {
@@ -286,6 +301,7 @@ protected:
 
 private:
 	void init_user_data ();
+	void init_description_data ();
 	void init_track_data ();
 	void init_album_data ();
 	void init_people_data ();
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/template_dialog.cc b/gtk2_ardour/template_dialog.cc
index 435d2c0fb6..ffeeaa8637 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/template_dialog.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/template_dialog.cc
@@ -446,6 +446,7 @@ void RouteTemplateManager::init ()
 	_progress_bar.hide ();
 }
 
+#include <cerrno>
 
 void
 SessionTemplateManager::rename_template (TreeModel::iterator& item, const Glib::ustring& new_name_)
diff --git a/libs/ardour/ardour/session_metadata.h b/libs/ardour/ardour/session_metadata.h
index a8fb977e51..c0bfdb4003 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/ardour/session_metadata.h
+++ b/libs/ardour/ardour/session_metadata.h
@@ -46,6 +46,8 @@ class LIBARDOUR_API SessionMetadata : public PBD::StatefulDestructible
 	~SessionMetadata ();
 
 	/*** Accessing ***/
+	std::string description () const;
+
 	std::string comment () const;
 	std::string copyright () const;
 	std::string isrc () const;
@@ -88,6 +90,7 @@ class LIBARDOUR_API SessionMetadata : public PBD::StatefulDestructible
 	std::string country () const;
 
 	/*** Editing ***/
+	void set_description (const std::string &);
 	void set_comment (const std::string &);
 	void set_copyright (const std::string &);
 	void set_isrc (const std::string &);
diff --git a/libs/ardour/session_metadata.cc b/libs/ardour/session_metadata.cc
index 0620f12005..61818422cf 100644
--- a/libs/ardour/session_metadata.cc
+++ b/libs/ardour/session_metadata.cc
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ SessionMetadata *SessionMetadata::_metadata = NULL;  //singleton instance
 SessionMetadata::SessionMetadata ()
 {
 	/*** General ***/
+	map.insert (Property ("description", ""));
+
+	/*** Track/Song Data ***/
 	map.insert (Property ("comment", ""));
 	map.insert (Property ("copyright", ""));
 	map.insert (Property ("isrc", ""));
@@ -222,6 +225,12 @@ SessionMetadata::get_user_state ()
 }
 
 /*** Accessing ***/
+string
+SessionMetadata::description () const
+{
+	return get_value("description");
+}
+
 string
 SessionMetadata::comment () const
 {
@@ -430,6 +439,12 @@ SessionMetadata::country () const
 
 
 /*** Editing ***/
+void
+SessionMetadata::set_description (const string & v)
+{
+	set_value ("description", v);
+}
+
 void
 SessionMetadata::set_comment (const string & v)
 {