Radio 3 Unwind starts on the 4th of November

[Pulcinella]

As a slight aside I have just had an email from a family member who is a volunteer at Inverewe gardens, which features in this first episode. Apparently the filming was delayed by nearly two months and when they did turn up the weather was against them and the plants not at their best so there is considerable interest to see to what extent TV magic will triumph in the end result!

You'll be anything but relaxed then, waiting to find out.

[oddoneout]

The disease is spreading.

This is from the preview of

Monty Don's British Gardens
BBC2, 8pm

in today's Times:

It is all as relaxing as anything you will see this month.

As a slight aside I have just had an email from a family member who is a volunteer at Inverewe gardens, which features in this first episode. Apparently the filming was delayed by nearly two months and when they did turn up the weather was against them and the plants not at their best so there is considerable interest to see to what extent TV magic will triumph in the end result!

[hmvman]

Absolutely nothig wrong with it at all. But misleading to associate it with Radio 3 and classical music as such. Just commodification of art rather than art itself. As an individual, I expect Radio 3 to offer more than that. That's not what the creators originally intended it to do: it's the contemporary appropriation of classical music to help people sleep. One either considers that important or one doesn't.

We certainly live in 'interesting' times when on the one hand the BBC and CFM are commodifying classical music as a relaxant, while on the other police forces are advising its weaponisation to deter criminals:

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/classical-music-crime-st-johns-wood-b1203247.html

[LMcD]

The disease is spreading.

This is from the preview of

Monty Don's British Gardens
BBC2, 8pm

in today's Times:

It is all as relaxing as anything you will see this month.

I blame Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

[Pulcinella]

The disease is spreading.

This is from the preview of

Monty Don's British Gardens
BBC2, 8pm

in today's Times:

It is all as relaxing as anything you will see this month.

[french frank]

I have to say there have been many times lately, deep in the night, when I have taken this sedative and found it perfect for easing me to gentle sleep. There has been music, accompanied by the sound of waves, which is truly soothing. I can see nothing wrong with lullabies - and long, long ago I found that Mozart's flute and harp concerto played softly would ease my baby sons to sweet sleep.

Absolutely nothig wrong with it at all. But misleading to associate it with Radio 3 and classical music as such. Just commodification of art rather than art itself. As an individual, I expect Radio 3 to offer more than that. That's not what the creators originally intended it to do: it's the contemporary appropriation of classical music to help people sleep. One either considers that important or one doesn't.

[vinteuil]

When it comes to getting to sleep, some people swear by the Shipping Forecast.

... and some at it.

.

[LMcD]

I have to say there have been many times lately, deep in the night, when I have taken this sedative and found it perfect for easing me to gentle sleep. There has been music, accompanied by the sound of waves, which is truly soothing. I can see nothing wrong with lullabies - and long, long ago I found that Mozart's flute and harp concerto played softly would ease my baby sons to sweet sleep.

When it comes to getting to sleep, some people swear by the Shipping Forecast.

[Bella Kemp]

I have to say there have been many times lately, deep in the night, when I have taken this sedative and found it perfect for easing me to gentle sleep. There has been music, accompanied by the sound of waves, which is truly soothing. I can see nothing wrong with lullabies - and long, long ago I found that Mozart's flute and harp concerto played softly would ease my baby sons to sweet sleep.

[LMcD]

Letter in next week's RT Feedback (P144):

"With Radio 3 Unwind, we have a whole radio station devoted to classical music as sedative: undemanding, cosy, with presenters speaking in hushed tones.

In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's drug called Soma was a narcotic tranquilliser, designed to reduce unrest and subversive ideas. That got me thinking. But then I fell asleep. Rachel Collingbourne, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

Well said, Rachel !

[Serial_Apologist]

Letter in next week's RT Feedback (P144):

"With Radio 3 Unwind, we have a whole radio station devoted to classical music as sedative: undemanding, cosy, with presenters speaking in hushed tones.

In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley's drug called Soma was a narcotic tranquilliser, designed to reduce unrest and subversive ideas. That got me thinking. But then I fell asleep. Rachel Collingbourne, Ely, Cambridgeshire.

[french frank]

I get the impression that the Radio 3 sleeping pill is now most often trailed as 'Radio 3 Online', with 'Unwind' being mentioned only occasionally.

Managerial decision in view of the criticisms? A hint of ducking and diving, perhaps?

[LMcD]

I get the impression that the Radio 3 sleeping pill is now most often trailed as 'Radio 3 Online', with 'Unwind' being mentioned only occasionally.

[Roslynmuse]

He forgot to add "... of a certain age..." to that final para.

I was thinking exactly the same thing...

[oddoneout]

On the contrary: the variety is as broad as it ever was

Has he looked at the daytime schedules of yore, such as the one posted recently by(I think )Aunt Daisy, to get an idea of why some of us might disagree with that statement?
For now I'll narrow it down to "is that why there is so little Classical content, and Baroque/early repertoire is almost non-existent? They seem to have been removed in order to accommodate the management pressure to tick equality,diversity and accessibility boxes. That doesn't broaden the music offering, it just shifts the lack of breadth(perceived, not actual, in my view) elsewhere.
His habit of drawing attention to a one-off, such as the Sunday trip around the UK, or a new series such as The Modernists, to me just seems to highlight the paucity overall. Time was when a new series, or indeed just topic-based series in general, happened as a standard part of the output; it was what R3 is(was) for, not a rare happening that has to be endlessly trumpeted.
I don't pour scorn on the idea of introducing 'classical music' to the masses(far from it) but I am critical of the ways that he approaches the matter, for several reasons.