BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I missed the hype this year. I hope last year’s inadequate rules were ditched.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I missed the hype this year. I hope last year’s inadequate rules were ditched.

Oh…

I see Radio 3 is following its usual pattern of thought: repeating its mistakes in the earnest belief that the BBC is never wrong.

Presumably they’ll soon follow the same practice with the BBC New Generation Artists?

[Ein Heldenleben]

For those who listen to R3 a lot these are becoming a daily trial. Syrupy rendition , sub-poppy cliche’d harmonic sequences, unmemorable melodies and often inaudible lyrics…..

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

For those who listen to R3 a lot these are becoming a daily trial. Syrupy rendition , sub-poppy cliche’d harmonic sequences, unmemorable melodies and often inaudible lyrics…..

That's because the judges are that way inclined. The competition should be moved to Radio 2.

[Paulie55]

Uninspiring Carols

I start this thread some trepidation. I'm sure we all have views about it. Whatever our views, it's probable that many R3 listeners are getting pleasure both from the offerings and from the 'competition' aspect. As the competitors are all (technically at least) amateur composers maybe we should go easy on individuals!

Trying not to break the above ground-rules, I would say that the harmonic language and rhythmic interest of the short-listed ones are a bit anodyne.
I suspect a certain amount of 'calculated simplicity' has been exercised by the creators to aim at a presumed desire for 'accessibility' by the judges.
I was quite amused when one contestant, interviewed, said he was studying composition at Trinity-Laban and specialised in the avant garde. QED?

It's the whole format that has led to the present situation. Just write a melody so someone else can arrange it.........without much imagination too. Once again, the singers sound less than engagaed but then, I'm not surprised. Where's John Rutter when you need him?

[DracoM]

[QUOTESyrupy rendition , sub-poppy cliche’d harmonic sequences, unmemorable melodies and often inaudible lyrics…..[/QUOTE]

Spot on.

[Serial_Apologist]

It's the whole format that has led to the present situation. Just write a melody so someone else can arrange it.........without much imagination too. Once again, the singers sound less than engagaed but then, I'm not surprised. Where's John Rutter when you need him?

We've reached a pretty pass when you have to pose that last question, I have to say!

[Ein Heldenleben]

It's the whole format that has led to the present situation. Just write a melody so someone else can arrange it.........without much imagination too. Once again, the singers sound less than engagaed but then, I'm not surprised. Where's John Rutter when you need him?

The harmonisation has a bit of a sub jazzy Rutter feel but without his originality- those little twists that lift it out of the ordinary. I wonder if the harmonisation is all done by the same person . That might explain the lack of variety.
Where’s Gustav Holst when you need him ?!

[Nick Armstrong]

We've reached a pretty pass when you have to pose that last question, I have to say!

[oddoneout]

That's because the judges are that way inclined. The competition should be moved to Radio 2.

I think I've heard all of them, but they all seemed much of a muchness so perhaps not. I agree about the relocation, especially since R2 already hosts the Young Chorister competition.

[Paulie55]

We've reached a pretty pass when you have to pose that last question, I have to say!

You can sniff at Rutter but he knows how to write a good tune, whether twee or not. I remember incidental music he composed for a TV series on The Bible, which was quite majestic and clearly from the same stable as Miklos Rozsa.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Two more carols again on EC . That soupy , cloying piano intro, the penny in the slot harmonisation. What’s happened to music in this country? The only point is to show , if proof were needed , just how talented in their different fields Britten and Paul McCartney were.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Two more carols again on EC . That soupy , cloying piano intro, the penny in the slot harmonisation.

That's the fault of the penny-in-the-slot arranger that Radio 3 has imposed on the composers, whether they like it or not. The judges and arranger are largely of the low-brow happy-clappy derivation, so the results are unlikely to be promising.

[Vox Humana]

That's the fault of the penny-in-the-slot arranger that Radio 3 has imposed on the composers, whether they like it or not. The judges and arranger are largely of the low-brow happy-clappy derivation, so the results are unlikely to be promising.

All the more reason why it should be switched to Radio 2. Radio 3 has already be dumbed down too much. In fact, I'm sure quite a lot of us would have preferred it if Radio 3 hadn't been dumbed down at all.

[Suffolkcoastal]

A couple of the 'tunes' are passable, and sought of serve the purpose, but the harmonisations are totally bland and cringeworthy, and give the impression of being compiled from the Mission Praise school of harmony. The piano parts I find crude & silly and totally superfluous.