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

[AuntDaisy]

AC used to be one of the advert-free zones but no longer, in its "new improved" muddled state.

Fingers crossed for longer afternoon concerts in the near future.

The adverts on R3 & R4 really annoy me - they're virtually all for channels / programmes I'd avoid. I'm getting old & grumpy!

[oddoneout]

Fingers crossed for longer afternoon concerts in the near future.

The adverts on R3 & R4 really annoy me - they're virtually all for channels / programmes I'd avoid. I'm getting old & grumpy!

They're already 2.5 or 3 hours between lunchtime recitals and In Tune(or Listening Service on 2.5 days) so I don't think they're likely to get any longer. It would be nice to get back to something approaching a 'concert plus other pieces' as used to happen, rather than the current bits and bobs plus parts of a deconstructed concert - which recently has taken the form of splitting up sequences of music, intended and performed/recorded as a unit, to scatter as snippets in between completely unrelated other works and each side of the theme of the week item at 3pm.
The adverts annoy me on 2 main counts - their repetition to the point of alienation/ decision ( not always conscious but the result of blocking out the ad I suspect) not to listen to the trailed programme, and their often crass placement(since by their attention grabbing nature they are more often than not intrusive in volume and tone) destroying the mood built up by whatever music preceded it.
Their being for programmes I am not interested in in the first place is I think inevitable given how much of the Beeb's output I don't listen to or watch!

[AuntDaisy]

The awkward thing is I don't think that argument convinces any longer. Breakfast, Essential Classics, This Classical Life et al are what BBC management calls 'distinctive' in that they can itemise all the ways in which the programmes differ from CFM, while ignoring the ways in which they are similar (crucially, in being aimed at people who don't want to be listening to classical music attentively for any length of time i.e. more than nine and a half minutes at a stretch).

On the other hand, the late evening programmes are completely unlike anything on CFM. They are even less likely to appeal to people who want 'to listen to classical music attentively for any length of time)'. Less and less (Reduced Listening) is aimed at people who already know (and are principally interested in) core classical music, and more and more they have to navigate the schedules between the programmes they like and the ones they can't stand (and which aren't aimed at them anyway). Or give up on 'live listening' altogether which many have.

I suppose the BBC thinking is that it doesn't matter if a largely older generation pushes off to listen to foreign internet stations as long as they can concentrate on younger listeners while keeping some classical pieces mixed in with the rest. Even if only 10% of output were classical, R3 would remain the BBC's 'flagship classical station'.

Sorry, FF, I'd missed your reply.
Valid points and I semi-retract my sweeping CFM statement.
Your final point really worries me - it would severely cut in to TTN.

[AuntDaisy]

They're already 2.5 or 3 hours between lunchtime recitals and In Tune(or Listening Service on 2.5 days) so I don't think they're likely to get any longer. It would be nice to get back to something approaching a 'concert plus other pieces' as used to happen, rather than the current bits and bobs plus parts of a deconstructed concert - which recently has taken the form of splitting up sequences of music, intended and performed/recorded as a unit, to scatter as snippets in between completely unrelated other works and each side of the theme of the week item at 3pm.
The adverts annoy me on 2 main counts - their repetition to the point of alienation/ decision ( not always conscious but the result of blocking out the ad I suspect) not to listen to the trailed programme, and their often crass placement(since by their attention grabbing nature they are more often than not intrusive in volume and tone) destroying the mood built up by whatever music preceded it.
Their being for programmes I am not interested in in the first place is I think inevitable given how much of the Beeb's output I don't listen to or watch!

[Edgy 2]

Apologies for upsetting you, gurnemanz - perhaps I spoke too harshly.

The "Classical Fix" trailer I mentioned was a shock because it came so early in the Afternoon concert (20 mins in) and it was a program aimed at (non-Classical) musical youngsters, i.e. "introducing music-loving guests to classical music". (I'm not retired, but they're still young to me.)
It's also not the first time I've heard these wretched trailers and it usually produces lots of cursing, (as do ones for other stations.)

Most of my listening is done via off-air recordings, e.g. TTN while I'm working.
Very happy to agree about the Lunchtime recitals - they're usually excellent.

That's pretty much all the R3 I listen to ( via sounds )

[antongould]

I listen to Radio Three as much as I ever have over the last 60 years, probably a lot more, being retired and at home during the day. I rarely listen during the night when I am usually asleep. I don't believe I am undiscerning or have a short attention span. Over the decades there have always been programmes which I am less keen on and do not expect my preferences to coincide with everyone else's. I am a song lover and am constantly grateful for lunchtime recitals.

No comparison for me between R3 and CFM which I cannot stomach for more than five minutes.

Crudely stereotyping terms such as "yoof listeners" are deeply unappealing to me and inimical to my way of thinking.

Despite shortcomings I do not subscribe to the "doom" theory and believe Radio 3 needs to be cherished and defended in the face of the philistine onslaught.

Very well said, only IMVVHO of course …….

[AuntDaisy]

Something to look forward to in April? Starting 9/4/2022 at 1am.
"Composed - A mix for the small hours"

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015v5k

[oddoneout]

Something to look forward to in April? Starting 9/4/2022 at 1am.
"Composed - A mix for the small hours"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015v5k

Hmm. Small pieces for small hours? "Composed" - as opposed to what - does that mean curated has had its day?

[AuntDaisy]

Hmm. Small pieces for small hours? "Composed" - as opposed to what - does that mean curated has had its day?

Followed by Decomposed, Uncomposed, Discomposed, Recomposed and Posed?

Curated seems so last year

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Whilst I would willing turn the clock back to the days of full works on R3 I agree that there are good points to R3 and Essential Classics for all its faults is better than daytime CFM (8.00 - 10.00pm) is sometimes worth a listen. Breakfast and ES have frequently introduced me to works and recordings new to me and Sunday Morning is usually a good listen - afternoons remain messy. Nin-classical music across BBC continues in its dire way and curiously R3 has become a relative haven!

Whilst you make a fair point about the comparison with CFM, the argument that ‘the other lot are worse’ isn’t really sustainable. I’ve made the following (true) comparison before, about the new headmaster at school I taught in for ten years:

Teacher: The general behaviour in school has deteriorated.
Headteacher: I wouldn’t worry. It was much worse in my last school.

Standards continued to fall. The school was put in Special Measures. The school subsequently closed.

[french frank]

Followed by Decomposed, Uncomposed, Discomposed, Recomposed and Posed?

Curated seems so last year

No news as yet, it seems, as to what 'Composed A mix for the small hours' will be. Another magpie mixtape of bits from here and there, presumably. I'm always confused about the early hours programmes. Is this taking over from Piano Flow? If at first …

[Serial_Apologist]

Something to look forward to in April? Starting 9/4/2022 at 1am.
"Composed - A mix for the small hours"
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015v5k

Goodness only knows. The last but one episode of The Apprentice had the teams similarly making up baby food; as with many of the latest initiatives from the Radio 3 programming department, both doses turned out disastrously.

[oddoneout]

Goodness only knows. The last but one episode of The Apprentice had the teams similarly making up baby food; as with many of the latest initiatives from the Radio 3 programming department, both doses turned out disastrously.

We might choke on the offering but at least R3 doesn't threaten death as one team's logo did - First Time F**Dies
Which reminds me, by a slightly circuitous route; the current Screwfix ad campaign has Dies irae (WAM version) accompanying it, much to my amusement but also puzzlement. I suppose that's what happens when music is plucked from the audio soup simply on the basis of what it sounds like rather than what it might mean, and preferably no right issues?

[RichardB]

"Composed" - as opposed to what - does that mean curated has had its day?

If was only a matter of time before "programmers", having already promoted themselves to "curators", would eventually have the hubris to place themselves on the same level as those who actually produce the music. If that's really what they want they ought to have to endure the financial insecurity that goes with it.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

If was only a matter of time before "programmers", having already promoted themselves to "curators", would eventually have the hubris to place themselves on the same level as those who actually produce the music. If that's really what they want they ought to have to endure the financial insecurity that goes with it.

Do keep up. It’s already gone way beyond that. Look at the Radio 3 webpage.
For example - an opera by Wagner is being broadcast. Do we get a picture of the composer, or one of the characters? Or the conductor or soloists? Of course not. We get a picture of Georgia Mann, or whichever presenter has been chosen.