Sunday Morning

[Richard Tarleton]

Many thanks John. Lovely indeed.

[DracoM]

At an Advent service tonight, in the gather afterwards, several commented on the Sacred River, BUT....then, totally unprompted, they almost to a man / woman / person set off on a real blistering of anything much on R3 before 7.30 p.m.- a strategy they said was a major change for them in the last few years.

It had even driven one woman to say she had bought a iPad + ear pieces etc and discovered online classical globally, etc etc, and iPlayer, and it meant she rarely listened to R3 AT ALL, any more. She had not up to that point owned any such device!!

Why, I asked them, and literally ALL those in the conversation - about 6 of us - said with one voice 'presenters.', which in turn precipitated a LONG discusison of different pains and woes, chiefest among which was .....guess?.................

......................KD. 100%:steam from all, nem con. And then to my huge surprise, they got stuck into T.Service and Ian Skelley.

[LMcD]

Presenters .... I suggest the BBC get rid of Suzy Klein on Essential Classics and replace her with David Mellor. His Sunday evening 'show' on CFM is often a delightful and informative experience. He knows at least as much about music as she does - probably more - and he manages to educate his listeners without talking down to, or bullying, them. Next Sunday, we're promised, he'll play something from Hamish McCunn's opera 'Jeannie Dean', so he can hardly be accused of relying exclusively on popular favourites. I didn't realize (or had forgotten), incidentally, that Hamish McCunn conducted the first performance of 'Tristan' in English.

[french frank]

International Women's Day this week highlighted a big change in Sunday Morning:

2017 (J Swain) 13 pieces in all, 7 by women composers:

Ruth Crawford Seeger (2 mins)
Cecilia McDowell (3 mins)
Dobrinka Tabakova (5 mins)
Barbara Strozzi (9 mins?)
Dame Ethel Smyth (9 mins)
Judith Weir (7 mins)
Sofia Gubaidulina (30 mins?)

2018 (S Walker) 23 works in all, 3 by women (one of them a folk/roots musician):

Angela Meyer/Oka Vanga (3 mins)
Hildegard of Bingen (3 mins)
Roxanna Panufnik (7 mins)

But several 'women performers' …

Not an improvement?

[Opinionated Knowall]

International Women's Day this week highlighted a big change in Sunday Morning:

2017 (J Swain) 13 pieces in all, 7 by women composers:

Ruth Crawford Seeger (2 mins)
Cecilia McDowell (3 mins)
Dobrinka Tabakova (5 mins)
Barbara Strozzi (9 mins?)
Dame Ethel Smyth (9 mins)
Judith Weir (7 mins)
Sofia Gubaidulina (30 mins?)

2018 (S Walker) 23 works in all, 3 by women (one of them a folk/roots musician):

Angela Meyer/Oka Vanga (3 mins)
Hildegard of Bingen (3 mins)
Roxanna Panufnik (7 mins)

But several 'women performers' …

Not an improvement?

Or compare a similar undertaking on 30 September 1973 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules...09-30#at-13.50

[french frank]

Or compare a similar undertaking on 30 September 1973 http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules...09-30#at-13.50

Indeed. Impressive (I have attempted amendments to Women as Comoosers and Elisabeth Sbderstrom. I think they have to be vetted.

[Barbirollians]

Sunday Morning does appear to have been " popularised ". Yesterday morning SW announced some music by Gluck and surprise surprise it was the Dance of the Blessed Spirits - it is a Classic FOM programme without the adverts.

[french frank]

Sunday Morning does appear to have been " popularised ". Yesterday morning SW announced some music by Gluck and surprise surprise it was the Dance of the Blessed Spirits - it is a Classic FOM programme without the adverts.

To say nothing of Billy Mayerl, Peggy Lee and Bernstein's Wonderful Town. Plus bandoneonist J Rowlands playing Piazzolla. It seems that if the performer is better known for classical music (Susan Tomes, Simon Rattle &c) it becomes classical music. Can't explain Peggy Lee.

[Barbirollians]

Why not call it Sarah Walker's Light Programme ?

[cloughie]

Presenters .... I suggest the BBC get rid of Suzy Klein on Essential Classics and replace her with David Mellor. His Sunday evening 'show' on CFM is often a delightful and informative experience. He knows at least as much about music as she does - probably more - and he manages to educate his listeners without talking down to, or bullying, them. Next Sunday, we're promised, he'll play something from Hamish McCunn's opera 'Jeannie Dean', so he can hardly be accused of relying exclusively on popular favourites. I didn't realize (or had forgotten), incidentally, that Hamish McCunn conducted the first performance of 'Tristan' in English.

Maybe if David Mellor is the answer then the wrong question has been asked. It needs a change of format not presenter.

[french frank]

Maybe if David Mellor is the answer then the wrong question has been asked. It needs a change of format not presenter.

Quite agree. It's a mess of a programme, not fair on presenters.

[Padraig]

Quite agree. It's a mess of a programme, not fair on presenters.

But you're going to hang them out to dry anyway, f f, and you are not alone.
Sarah Walker does a fine job of relating to and communicating with her listeners in the context of presenting a music programme.

[french frank]

But you're going to hang them out to dry anyway, f f,

Don't know what you're referring to.

Sarah Walker does a fine job of relating to and communicating with her listeners in the context of presenting a music programme.

Same point as Essential Classics - a pretty undistinguished playlist. There's more to classical music than that. No idea who chooses the music.

[Barbirollians]

Maybe if David Mellor is the answer then the wrong question has been asked. It needs a change of format not presenter.

[cloughie]

Don't know what you're referring to.

Same point as Essential Classics - a pretty undistinguished playlist. There's more to classical music than that.No idea who chooses the music

Whoever it is should be fired and replaced by a panel from the Forum!