River of Music: 12 hrs Non-stop Music: Sunday 30 October

[gradus]

It made a pleasant change, do it again sometime. I listened when I was near a radio and liked the juxtaposition of pieces with plenty that was new or unknown to me. Many thanks to the people who selected the pieces.

[Anastasius]

Been tuned in since about ten. Thoroughly enjoyable way of listening to broadcasted music. I think that R3 should do this on a regular basis (once a week?). Definitely gets my vote, in fact I’d say it’s excellent.

I agree wholeheartedly. There is nothing like the sheer pleasure of dipping in to Radio 3 on the odd occasion that I do and coming across a wonderful performance of a piece that suited the mood and one that I'd not listened to for a long time. The War Requiem. Slightly disappointed when it stopped part way through. Ah well, can't have it all.

[french frank]

One thing that I found curious was the relative lack of recordings from the Third/Radio 3 archive. The majority of the items included were from commercial CDs not originating from the BBC.

I imagine it would have taken a lot more hunting out and editing work (to detach individual works from a concert, say). Tracks are easy to isolate.

[doversoul1]

Whether you like (one likes) or dislike this format is a matter of preference but to say that it is good because you are (one is) spared from inane chatters of presenters is, I think, very discourteous to all those excellent, professional presenters who daily enrich our listening experience.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Whether you like (one likes) or dislike this format is a matter of preference but to say that it is good because you are (one is) spared from inane chatters of presenters is, I think, very discourteous to all those excellent, professional presenters who daily enrich our listening experience.

But there is a significant amount of inane chatter, inextricably lined with the more informative content. And from people who should (and did) know better.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

But there is a significant amount of inane chatter, ... from people who should (and did) know better.

Not excluding the two involved yesterday, alas.

[kernelbogey]

...I think that R3 should do this on a regular basis (once a week?). Definitely gets my vote, in fact I’d say it’s excellent.

I'm wondering about frequency and timing, since I agree with this, as do others here. I think, on balance, I'd like this as a once a week feature. Three hours on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon would suit me. Though maybe they could give Essential Classics a break on a Friday and run one of these for three hours. It could be called something like, oh, maybe 'The Innocent Ear'.

[Alain Maréchal]

It could be called something like, oh, maybe 'The Innocent Ear'.

Even TIE informed us, after each piece, to what we had been listening. Also it was devised and presented by Robert Simpson; which current candidate reaches his standards?

[oddoneout]

Why do you want/need to know?
Is one question to ask
How is the experience of hearing music changed by knowing who created it?
Is the experience diminished by not knowing? and so on
Of course, if I (or RB, AH etc) had written it then the reason to know is so you can go and buy it

I can't do clever things to lay this out better to reply to individual points so I hope it makes sense.

I might want to know so that I can find and listen again to something that caught my interest.
I think you know reasons why foreknowledge/prejudice alters how and what one hears. However that was not what I was asking about. I am happy to listen 'blind', and I happen to think it's a worthwhile exercise for all sorts of reasons, but would be annoyed if I was unable to follow up an item which interested me - because it was new to me, because I want to know who dunnit, because I might want to know if my'guess' was correct etc.
Yes, if I couldn't find out I wouldn't be able to support either living composers or performers by buying a recording if the music appealed that much.Many years ago R3 did a series of Christmas sequences without info. One piece made such an impression that I got hold of the playlist, and subsequently went and bought the CD, which has not only been a yearly source of delight but also introduced me to some pieces I did not previously know.
Not everyone has sufficient musical knowledge/expertise to be able to make a start on tracking something down, and surely we would want to make it as easy as possible for everyone to have the opportunity to access the joys of music beyond popular/yoof culture? How many people got into classical music by hearing something on R3, being able to get a name for it and then going and following up?

[kernelbogey]

Even TIE informed us, after each piece, to what we had been listening. Also it was devised and presented by Robert Simpson; which current candidate reaches his standards?

Wasn't there once a short late afteernoon sequence - 'Homeward Bound'? - in which the music was continuous for an hour or less; IIRC the pieces were announced at the end.

FF?

Perhaps this formula could be announcement-less, with a listing on the website; those who don't want to know could simply not look, while those who do could inform themselves in advance.

[DaisyDog]

River of Muzak

Feeling brave I re-tried Radio 3 later in the day to see how the 'River of Muzak' was flowing only to get the theme tune from Dr Who followed by a Brandenburg concerto that was split up with other inappropriate stuff between each movement, possibly Schoenberg. God, what's the sense in that?

[Alain Maréchal]

Wasn't there once a short late afternoon sequence - 'Homeward Bound'? - in which the music was continuous for an hour or less; IIRC the pieces were announced at the end.

Yes, there was, and the introductory music was Respighi's Bergamasca.

[oddoneout]

Apart from a couple of hours taken out in the afternoon for a hospital appointment I had this on all day. I am not sure that I gained anything more from it than I would on a 'normal' days listening. Quite a lot I tuned out of( including the final piece, so it came as a shock to suddenly hear a voice!), several pieces suffered, to my ears, from being shunted into the next, feeling that there wasn't a discernible connection between the items made for disengagement on my part(partly irritation, partly feeling inadequate that I couldn't find a connection), firing up the PC to get info on a couple of occasions meant I wasn't concentrating on what was being broadcast at that point.
My overall feeling is that I actually listened less than I would otherwise have done, because it was just running on in an amorphous fashion without points of reference, rather than me choosing to turn on a particular programme because I wanted to hear the music being broadcast.
In the overall scheme of things what my reactions were are not relevant - what matters is what, if anything, the powers that be decide to do as a result of this experiment and their interpretation of the feedback.

[MrGongGong]

followed by a Brandenburg concerto that was split up with other inappropriate stuff between each movement, possibly Schoenberg. God, what's the sense in that?

Sounds like an interesting sequence and sorry I missed it
Why should there always be conventional "sense" ?

It was only one day FFS

[kernelbogey]

Feeling brave I re-tried Radio 3 later in the day to see how the 'River of Muzak' was flowing only to get the theme tune from Dr Who followed by a Brandenburg concerto that was split up with other inappropriate stuff between each movement, possibly Schoenberg. God, what's the sense in that?

The Brandenburg was not split up by other music, just the normal 2.5 movements; it was followed by the Berg Altenberg Lieder.