Tearjerker, Downtown Symphony, Piano Flow, Happy Harmonies and other Saturday padding

[Anastasius]

Surely the best film scores go way beyond that?

Gone with the Wind to Godfather, High Noon to Fistful of Dollars (Mexican Trumpets!), 2001 to the Guardians of the Galaxy (70s disco on a cassette tape) …..Gladiator…. or Spielberg classics like Jurassic Park or ET…….

Remember the Simon & Garfunkel songs with The Graduate….?

None of these films would be complete without their unique music. Its a vital part of their artistic impact; far more than background. The recurrence of the main musical ideas is often very carefully and movingly planned. (The T Rex crashing through the glass dome near the end of Jurassic Park, when the thrilling main trumpet tune recurs for the first time since the approach to the island)….

Star Wars has leitmotifs running through the whole vast sequence, varying and developing, attached to character/situation etc….

Somewhere between devoted or exclusive musical attention and background, but a distinctive artistic phenomenon; part of an artistic whole; the themes stay with you, hauntingly evocative of the film itself, for ever.

Very true. But it is definetly IMO not reciprocated. Film music without either the accompanying video or ones memory of seeing it previously is definitely a case of 'too many notes'.

[hmvman]

Just looking at the last line of Alan Davey's reply to AuntDaisy: "Classical music remains at the heart of BBC Radio 3’s schedule and accounts for the vast majority of our programming. This will always be the case. And Through the Night will be at the heart of that offer."

But we know from suffolkcoastal's annual survey that that 'offer' is reducing year on year...

[french frank]

Just looking at the last line of Alan Davey's reply to AuntDaisy: "Classical music remains at the heart of BBC Radio 3’s schedule and accounts for the vast majority of our programming.

Maybe - but if Breakfast, Essential Classics, Tearjerker, Night Tracks, Downtime Symphony, Classical Fix and This Classical Life (to name but seven) are Radio 3's 'classical music' ? What about the classical music lovers who find this all too bland (and uninformative) because they aren't the target audience. Classic FM has a better claim to put 'classical music at the heart' of their output.

[AuntDaisy]

Here's what we poor Brits missed from this morning's Through the Night...
Available to listen to on Euroclassic Notturno, e.g. on Swedish radio https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1647848

5:01 Kurt Weill / Hanns Eisler; Seeräuber Jenny & Wiegenlieder für Arbeitermütter; Helene Gjerris (mezzo soprano), Frode Andersen (accordion)
5:12 Gedimas Gelgotas; Never Ignore the Cosmic Ocean; Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, Kristjan Järvi (conductor)
5:18 Giuseppe Verdi; Overture - Nabucco; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Alun Francis (conductor)
5:27 Sergey Rachmaninov; Bogoroditse Devo; Polyphonia, Ivelin Dimitrov (conductor)
5:30 George Frideric Handel; Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion' : aria from "The Messiah"; Yvonne Kenny (soprano), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Kamirski (conductor)
5:35 Bela Bartok; 7 pieces from Mikrokosmos arr. Bartok for 2 pianos; Claire Ouellet (piano), Sandra Murray (piano)
5:45 Joseph Kuffner; Clarinet Quintet (Introduction, theme and variations) in B flat Op.32; Joze Kotar (clarinet), Slovene Philharmonic String Quartet
5:55 Traditional, Narciso Yepes; Romanza for guitar; Stepan Rak (guitar)
6:02 Antonio Vivaldi; Magnificat RV 610/RV 611; Lydia Teuscher (soprano), Maria Espada (soprano), Marie-Claude Chappuis (mezzo soprano), Florian Boesch (baritone), Bavarian Radio Choir, Peter Dijkstra (director), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (conductor)
6:22 John Foulds; Keltic Suite, Op 29; Katharine Wood (cello), BBC Concert Orchestra, Ronald Corp (conductor)
6:37 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Serenade in C minor for Wind Octet (K.388); Wind Ensemble of Hungarian State Opera

https://www.ebu.ch/files/live/sites/ebu/files/notturno-playlists/2021/02/06%20February%202021.pdf

The BBC webpage has the unbelievable "Organtastic!" as the title.

Maybe - but if Breakfast, Essential Classics, Tearjerker, Night Tracks, Downtime Symphony, Classical Fix and This Classical Life (to name but seven) are Radio 3's 'classical music' ? What about the classical music lovers who find this all too bland (and uninformative) because they aren't the target audience. Classic FM has a better claim to put 'classical music at the heart' of their output.

Spot on French Frank.

Could we suggest a change in R3's branding to "Radio 3 - not as Classical as Classical FM"? I'd love to hear that every time the abysmal SOUNDS app starts.

[cloughie]

Here's what we poor Brits missed from this morning's Through the Night...
Available to listen to on Euroclassic Notturno, e.g. on Swedish radio https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1647848

5:01 Kurt Weill / Hanns Eisler; Seeräuber Jenny & Wiegenlieder für Arbeitermütter; Helene Gjerris (mezzo soprano), Frode Andersen (accordion)
5:12 Gedimas Gelgotas; Never Ignore the Cosmic Ocean; Baltic Sea Youth Philharmonic, Kristjan Järvi (conductor)
5:18 Giuseppe Verdi; Overture - Nabucco; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Alun Francis (conductor)
5:27 Sergey Rachmaninov; Bogoroditse Devo; Polyphonia, Ivelin Dimitrov (conductor)
5:30 George Frideric Handel; Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion' : aria from "The Messiah"; Yvonne Kenny (soprano), Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Kamirski (conductor)
5:35 Bela Bartok; 7 pieces from Mikrokosmos arr. Bartok for 2 pianos; Claire Ouellet (piano), Sandra Murray (piano)
5:45 Joseph Kuffner; Clarinet Quintet (Introduction, theme and variations) in B flat Op.32; Joze Kotar (clarinet), Slovene Philharmonic String Quartet
5:55 Traditional, Narciso Yepes; Romanza for guitar; Stepan Rak (guitar)
6:02 Antonio Vivaldi; Magnificat RV 610/RV 611; Lydia Teuscher (soprano), Maria Espada (soprano), Marie-Claude Chappuis (mezzo soprano), Florian Boesch (baritone), Bavarian Radio Choir, Peter Dijkstra (director), Il Giardino Armonico, Giovanni Antonini (conductor)
6:22 John Foulds; Keltic Suite, Op 29; Katharine Wood (cello), BBC Concert Orchestra, Ronald Corp (conductor)
6:37 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; Serenade in C minor for Wind Octet (K.388); Wind Ensemble of Hungarian State Opera

https://www.ebu.ch/files/live/sites/ebu/files/notturno-playlists/2021/02/06%20February%202021.pdf

The BBC webpage has the unbelievable "Organtastic!" as the title.



Spot on French Frank.

Could we suggest a change in R3's branding to "Radio 3 - not as Classical as Classical FM"? I'd love to hear that every time the abysmal SOUNDS app starts.

Rap on 3!

[Frances_iom]

Rap on 3!

possibly though some years ago I heard some in my local second hand cd shop - the 'lyrics' were totally obscene - highly aggressive in a really nasty way towards women + gays - I tackled the shop owner once I'd got him to turn it off - 'Oh its just typical inner city [assumed London as wasn't an American voice] music for the black community' - it it were, and someone had thought it profitable to place on CD then something was violently wrong with that community.

But to return to 'tearjerker' (appropriate I guess as one considers what R3 has been forced to descend to) - sounds as tho cheaper than buying into through the night - but then I find R3 only listenable to between 12noon + 10pm

[oddoneout]

Managed to miss this again as insomnia was in the early hours and I slept later at the other end of the night. Taking the schedules at face value (ie assuming listening as broadcast) I do wonder about the vision of Saturdays that conjures up; an hour of Tearjerker messing with your emotions followed by Downtime Symphony "wind down music". So, depressed and lethargic, just what's needed for facing the challenges of another lockdown day.
On the plus side the lack of anything much(possibly Inside Music ) I want to listen to most Saturdays means I am getting to listen to my CDs. I only have a small selection, but they don't get out much in 'normal' times as I do other things on a Saturday so don't need to fill the music void. There is a stack that I acquired as part of charity raids pre-autumn lockdown when 2 shops were having a "10 for £1" clearance, which I'm working through.

[cloughie]

possibly though some years ago I heard some in my local second hand cd shop - the 'lyrics' were totally obscene - highly aggressive in a really nasty way towards women + gays - I tackled the shop owner once I'd got him to turn it off - 'Oh its just typical inner city [assumed London as wasn't an American voice] music for the black community' - it it were, and someone had thought it profitable to place on CD then something was violently wrong with that community.

But to return to 'tearjerker' (appropriate I guess as one considers what R3 has been forced to descend to) - sounds as tho cheaper than buying into through the night - but then I find R3 only listenable to between 12noon + 10pm

My reference was to a rap track played on this morning’s Downtime Symphony - Navy Blue: To give praise aired arond 6.30am - was this a good trade for John Foulds: Keltic Suite which we would have had on ‘Through the Night’. NO!

https://youtu.be/dMAgMSu_kaM

[AuntDaisy]

Thanks cloughie. For a moment, I though "To give praise" was in support of Downtime Symphony, i.e. just missing ".. where it's due."
My mistake - it's the title!
From your YouTube link, I cannot believe that these lyrics have been broadcast on Radio 3. I have no idea what they mean.

Yeah, yeah
I often wonder why my brain is cloudy, thunder
I'm not Russell nor KD, OKC
My mother told me speak my peace but she ain't say bleed
Same me, out save me, sagy
...

A new branding for R3? "Radio 3 - The Teen Classic FM"


The John Foulds was new to me, but you can hear it ~1:22:18 (~82mins) in on https://sverigesradio.se/avsnitt/1647848
(Click on the black up arrow at the bottom right to expand the player and move the slider along.)

[Ein Heldenleben]

My reference was to a rap track played on this morning’s Downtime Symphony - Navy Blue: To give praise aired arond 6.30am - was this a good trade for John Foulds: Keltic Suite which we would have had on ‘Through the Night’. NO!

https://youtu.be/dMAgMSu_kaM

It’s a funny old world though isn’t it? One of the benefits of the eclecticism of Radio 3 is that John Foulds now appears to be the subject of a documentary on the channel. It wouldn’t be surprised if in the sixties / seventies he was barely played at all.
Incidentally Rap (as part of urban / hip-hop) is currently a module in the Oxford University music B.A. course. It’s a popular option I’m told. I think I read somewhere that this genre is the most commercially successful in the entire history of music . As to its musical merits I’m more of a Wynton Marsalis fan....

[Anastasius]

.......
Incidentally Rap (as part of urban / hip-hop) is currently a module in the Oxford University music B.A. course. It’s a popular option I’m told. I think I read somewhere that this genre is the most commercially successful in the entire history of music . As to its musical merits I’m more of a Wynton Marsalis fan....

I can think of nothing worse than being forced to listen to rap (incidentally, the 'C' is silent) as part of a Uni course.

[jayne lee wilson]

possibly though some years ago I heard some in my local second hand cd shop - the 'lyrics' were totally obscene - highly aggressive in a really nasty way towards women + gays - I tackled the shop owner once I'd got him to turn it off - 'Oh its just typical inner city [assumed London as wasn't an American voice] music for the black community' - it it were, and someone had thought it profitable to place on CD then something was violently wrong with that community.

But to return to 'tearjerker' (appropriate I guess as one considers what R3 has been forced to descend to) - sounds as tho cheaper than buying into through the night - but then I find R3 only listenable to between 12noon + 10pm

Rap can be appallingly sexist, materialist and stereotyped, (just look at the various MTV-style channels now - so set in its clichéd ways...Snoop Dogg advertising Just Eat...) but it has also been a thriving fulcrum of invention and innovation in the BLM voices - think of Tricky, Massive Attack, then the later Grime and Garage genres here in UK - you might try this excellent series for an in-depth look at some historical groundbreakers...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rpms...

Here's an especially dark, subtle, catchy example -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi76bxT7K6U

....weird and surreal vid is based on the Kubrick classic The Shining...

[Roslynmuse]

I can think of nothing worse than being forced to listen to rap (incidentally, the 'C' is silent) as part of a Uni course.

As it's a module, I imagine that it is being taken only be students who are interested in it (or more interested in rap than, say, fugue). Investigating it from a socio-political viewpoint is probably the main thrust of the course. Musicology is a broad church!

[Ein Heldenleben]

As it's a module, I imagine that it is being taken only be students who are interested in it (or more interested in rap than, say, fugue). Investigating it from a socio-political viewpoint is probably the main thrust of the course. Musicology is a broad church!

I think in fact it’s looked at musically / linguistically as much as a cultural phenomenon - the students who take it also study counterpoint. Jayne is right - even if you don’t like it you can’t ignore its huge cultural dominance . I wouldn’t mind betting that the more successful performers in this genre earn more as individuals than the entire UK classical music business- though a large part of that will be through brand endorsement.

[underthecountertenor]

It’s a funny old world though isn’t it? One of the benefits of the eclecticism of Radio 3 is that John Foulds now appears to be the subject of a documentary on the channel. It wouldn’t be surprised if in the sixties / seventies he was barely played at all.
Incidentally Rap (as part of urban / hip-hop) is currently a module in the Oxford University music B.A. course. It’s a popular option I’m told. I think I read somewhere that this genre is the most commercially successful in the entire history of music . As to its musical merits I’m more of a Wynton Marsalis fan....

I read that in 1933 Foulds complained to Adrian Boult that only his light music was ever aired on the BBC - his serious output didn't get a look-in. By the 1960s his shade would probably have settled for an airing of some of the light stuff.