Tárrega watch

[Bryn]

... I have tweeted the good Dr Walker (they're all on Twitter don't ya know?) ...

A contractual obligation?

[pastoralguy]

Andrew MacGregor has just joined the TarrEga club, in a trail for a forthcoming programme about Julian Bream (for which much thanks).

Andrew of all people

I hate to be pedantic but it's Andrew McGregor...

[french frank]

this is what they advise if a broadcaster contacts them about this pronunciation. They also maintain a searchable online pronunciation database which is available to broadcasters within the BBC.[/I]

The problem is that no one never knows exactly how ignorant they are and about what, so they seldom ask and the Pronunciation Unit doesn't get involved.

As for being 'counter-intuitive' - no it isn't, it's absolutely regular Spanish spelling, since the stress is marked with an accent.

Still, one loses the will to live if someone points out that Tarrega hadn't got an accent because whoever typed it missed the accent off. One is just left pleading that, among Spanish composers, Tárrega is well-known, so it boils down to ignorance and sloppiness.

[Suffolkcoastal]

If you want the figures Richard, as far as last Friday Tarrega was on 7 for the year, so with the one today that makes 8, the total since the beginning of 2009 is 53 which includes 24 in 2011. Clearly R3 don't know how often they play his music.

[Richard Tarleton]

Thanks ff.

I've deleted my reply to pastoralguy which was a bit testy.

[Richard Tarleton]

If you want the figures Richard, as far as last Friday Tarrega was on 7 for the year, so with the one today that makes 8, the total since the beginning of 2009 is 53 which includes 24 in 2011. Clearly R3 don't know how often they play his music.

Many thanks for that, Suffolkcoastal. I was fairly sure it was a lot, because I've heard it a lot more than Graham Dixon thinks I could have. Useful!

[Bryn]

The problem is that no one never knows exactly how ignorant they are and about what, ...

Is that what unknown as an own goal?

[Richard Tarleton]

Fortified by sc's stats, and prompted by the addition of Sarah W to the club, I tried one last time. BBC's last word is that there is nothing BBC Complaints or Graham Dixon can add to what they've already explained in previous responses [other than just telling the presenters directly to get it right, presumably - very easy to do this, take less than 2 minutes] They invite me to "escalate [my] complaint under stage 2 of the complaints process to Roger Wright...."

I really don't think I can be bothered. The BBC is a bureaucratic behemoth. Having handed me one sledgehammer to crack this really very tiny nut, and that having failed, they hand me another, bigger, sledgehammer

In the meantime I'm tackling a couple of Tárrega pieces at a village hall gig tomorrow and must go and practise.

[amateur51]

In the meantime I'm tackling a couple of Tárrega pieces at a village hall gig tomorrow and must go and practise.

Good luck with the gig, RT

[Richard Tarleton]

Sean Rafferty just now, in conversation with 楊雪霏. Mind you he is already a well established member of the club, with a seat at the bar, in imminent danger of falling off his bar stool.

[amateur51]

Sean Rafferty just now, in conversation with 楊雪霏. Mind you he is already a well established member of the club, with a seat at the bar, in imminent danger of falling off his bar stool.

At a guess, is that Xuefei Yang, RT?

[Richard Tarleton]

Yes I just thought it looked lovely like that. She is a regular on the programme, and was answering SR's stupid questions with skill and tact (about guitars)

[Richard Tarleton]

Sarah Walker (already a member of the TarrEga club, see #23 above) has just renewed her membership. I had only just only turned on the radio .

Not quite sure what to do. I already have a thick file of correspondence with individual programmes, Radio 3, the Complaints Dept in Darlington (this escalation at the suggestion of Radio 3, as simply reminding their presenters was too straightforward)....As suffie has told us, Tárrega's music is played not infrequently - 53 times between 2009 and 2013 - and I think Sarah said she was giving us "5 reasons to love the Spanish guitar" this week, so could well be becoming a repeat offender.

[Richard Tarleton]

Sarah played Tárrega's Caprichio Àrabe this morning (Segovia), with the correct pronunciation! No doubt following my email yesterday. So I have naturally thanked Essential Classics for the correction.

I can claim three degrees of separation from Tárrega - I had one private lesson from the formidable Adele Kramer (Professor of guitar at the Guildhall), who studied with the Catalan guitarist and composer Miguel Llobet, who studied with Tárrega!

[Richard Tarleton]

Hold the front page! James Jolly (a former offender) played Recuerdos de la Alhambra just now, and pronounced Tárrega correctly! He played a passable rendition of it by a young guitarist of the moment whose name escapes me. He then spoilt things rather by playing the Ruggiero Ricci's misbegotten violin transcription (played by L. Kavakos) which sounds like an attack of hiccups. Mercifully, this version omits the repeats. Still, the main thing is, he pronounced the name correctly.

My work is done.