Radio 3 schedule changes (‘edging away from speech')

[oddoneout]

And: "It will feature a wide range of classical music both familiar and new, intertwined with voices and soundscapes to create a fresh, distinctive sound that transports listeners to a place of calm." That would be funny too if it weren't the official description of R3 Extension.

So rewriting existing music to create something else?

[LMcD]

I don't want music to be calming

If Classic FM and the Radio 3 Extension succeed in calming all of us, or even just some of us, down, it will help ease the financial pressure on the NHS and allow some 999 and 111 call-handlers to retrain as hospital porters or heart surgeons, which must surely be a Good Thing.

[french frank]

If Classic FM and the Radio 3 Extension succeed in calming all of us, or even just some of us, down, it will help ease the financial pressure on the NHS and allow some 999 and 111 call-handlers to retrain as hospital porters or heart surgeons, which must surely be a Good Thing.

I'm not sure why it should be R3's job to do that.

There Was A Time ... when there was an idea behind the creation of the Third Programme, and Radio 3 for a while. It had nothing to do with black ties, plummy accents or a certain starchiness - those were just passing phases, and not solely associated with the Third. But the fundamental idea was of a station that was erudite, that would stretch an audience that wanted to be stretched. Not the exact opposite of 'calming', but certainly not relaxing. That single basic idea has been junked which is why 90 - 93 FM and on digital radio is only "Radio 3" in the sense of being broadcast on that frequency. Any other brief resemblance is coincidental.

Which reminds me - Friday Night Is Music Night: a bit of a nonsense title for R3, and even when it was on R2.

[Andrew Slater]

Which reminds me - Friday Night Is Music Night: a bit of a nonsense title for R3, and even when it was on R2.

On the night of Friday 24th May the BBCCO will be playing at the English Music Festival. I wonder if the concert will go out live as Friday Night Is Music Night?

[gurnemanz]

I don't want music to be calming

I vaguely remember a story about someone going up to Arnold Schönberg after the first performance of a new work, saying how much he had enjoyed it. The composer replied: "If you enjoyed it you didn't understand it".

[LMcD]

I'm not sure why it should be R3's job to do that.

There Was A Time ... when there was an idea behind the creation of the Third Programme, and Radio 3 for a while. It had nothing to do with black ties, plummy accents or a certain starchiness - those were just passing phases, and not solely associated with the Third. But the fundamental idea was of a station that was erudite, that would stretch an audience that wanted to be stretched. Not the exact opposite of 'calming', but certainly not relaxing. That single basic idea has been junked which is why 90 - 93 FM and on digital radio is only "Radio 3" in the sense of being broadcast on that frequency. Any other brief resemblance is coincidental.

Which reminds me - Friday Night Is Music Night: a bit of a nonsense title for R3, and even when it was on R2.

On the dear old Light Programme, Saturday was Blackpool Night.

[Ein Heldenleben]

If Classic FM and the Radio 3 Extension succeed in calming all of us, or even just some of us, down, it will help ease the financial pressure on the NHS and allow some 999 and 111 call-handlers to retrain as hospital porters or heart surgeons, which must surely be a Good Thing.

Music can reduce blood pressure which is an important indicator of general health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art...0are%20complex.


But it won’t make up for a lifetime of fry ups, boozing , smoking and watching telly for hours on end.

[french frank]

On the dear old Light Programme, Saturday was Blackpool Night.

My point was just about the programme title, not the programme. Every night is 'music night' on R3, plus most of the daytime. The same, I think, applied to R2. I think it was under Wright that the idea of FNIMN was piloted on R3. If I remember, the evening concert starred Lulu. Absolutely nothing wrong with Lulu of FNIMN. But why cut down on classical concerts on R3 to make room for them?

[smittims]

I expect that research would discover that the title 'Friday Night is Music Night comes from Variety Theatre history, and wasn't meant too literally. I mean , we never really thought Reg Leopold and his orchestra were really playing in the Palm Court of Grand Hotel, did we?

[Ein Heldenleben]

I expect that research would discover that the title 'Friday Night is Music Night comes from Variety Theatre history, and wasn't meant too literally. I mean , we never really thought Reg Leopold and his orchestra were really playing in the Palm Court of Grand Hotel, did we?

The one time I worked on it it was live from the Golders Green Hippodrome and presented by Desmond Carrington . It came live from there for years. Other venues I think included the Watford Colosseum. A nice show to work on and very much a multi mic job so a lot of cable coiling…

[LMcD]

The one time I worked on it it was live from the Golders Green Hippodrome and presented by Desmond Carrington . It came live from there for years. Other venues I think included the Watford Colosseum. A nice show to work on and very much a multi mic job so a lot of cable coiling…

I'd forgotten just how many music programmes there were on the Light Programme. There were 15 on September 25th 1953 ,including 2 different editions of Music While You Work, 2 military bands and two organ recitals, The non-musical items included both Twenty Questions and Any Questions.
On the same day, the bill of fare on the Third Programme, included the English Piano Quartet with Emanuel Hurwitz and George Malcolm playing 2 English Suites by Handel.

[cria]

...very much a multi mic job so a lot of cable coiling…

who was senior, the coiler, the uncoiler, or the flatten out any kinks man? (it was the BBC, after all)

[willietell]

There Was A Time ... when there was an idea behind the creation of the Third Programme, and Radio 3 for a while. It had nothing to do with black ties, plummy accents or a certain starchiness - those were just passing phases, and not solely associated with the Third. But the fundamental idea was of a station that was erudite, that would stretch an audience that wanted to be stretched. Not the exact opposite of 'calming', but certainly not relaxing. That single basic idea has been junked which is why 90 - 93 FM and on digital radio is only "Radio 3" in the sense of being broadcast on that frequency. Any other brief resemblance is coincidental.

Couldn't agree more. I had a very similar conversation with a friend yesterday who plays in the second violins in a local orchestra with a concert on Saturday playing a run-of-the-mill programme of Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Nothing wrong with the music choices of course, but I made the point that only a couple of decades ago the programmes were much more adventurous because the conductor at the time felt the players - and audience - needed to be stretched. And his concerts were always full to capacity. Now the tendency is to play safe with the programmes. The concert hall is still full for the performances but there isn't the same buzz of excitement at the prospect of hearing something less familiar - maybe Bartók (Roumanian Folk Dances?), lesser-known Holst (Beni Mora?) or Finzi (Eclogue?), for example.

[Barbirollians]

I went to a Friday Night is Music Night concert with my grandparents in the early 1980s at the RFH - the only piece I remember was Geoffrey Toye’s the Haunted Ballroom - which I rather liked . Enjoyed rather more the next concert I went to with them RPO/Dorati - Haydn 104,Beethoven PC 2 and Pastoral.

[Serial_Apologist]

I vaguely remember a story about someone going up to Arnold Schönberg after the first performance of a new work, saying how much he had enjoyed it. The composer replied: "If you enjoyed it you didn't understand it".