Saturday Classics

[Nick Armstrong]

Driving home, I tried, too, and gave up after about 45 minutes of Peter & the Wolf, and well known bits of Mozart and Handel. It was really poor stuff. To have lost both World Routes and Jazz Library on a Saturday afternoon to this inconsequential easy listening strand is an absolute disgrace.

I second that, pilamenon

[MickyD]

I was only thinking of this programme a few days ago. I was only 11 in 1976 but I listened to it most weeks. I don't think I was a particularly odd child either! I just would have resented being patronised even then.

I definitely listened to it in the 1980s and I am pretty certain that there was no presenter, just the person in question talking about their lives and the music which was important to them.

[Andrew Slater]

According to The Envy of the World by Humphrey Carpenter, Man of Action was introduced in 1975 as a cost-cutting measure. According to my RTs for 1977 and 1978 it ran from 2:15 to 3:35.

According to The Envy of the World, the programme which I remember replaced it, Play it Again, where a guest re-played music selections from the previous week's broadcasts, began on 29th September 1979. (I have a Radio Times for 18-24/10/80 which shows PiA running from 2pm to 5pm.)

[french frank]

According to The Envy of the World by Humphrey Carpenter, Man of Action was introduced in 1975 as a cost-cutting measure.

Was this because it was also on Radio 4?

(Btw, today is the 65th anniversary of the start of the Third Programme)

[Andrew Slater]

The book says that it Man (Woman) of Action was shared with Radio 4; I don't remember that happening, so perhaps it was short-lived. It certainly wasn't happening by 1977: the programme immediately after it, Music of the Masters, was shared. This continued into 1978. I seem to remember the latter at one time being mid-week: perhaps that was when MoA was shared.

A programme earlier in the day, in 1977, introduced by John Amis, from 12.2 to 12.55, was also shared. By 1978 this had been dropped.

(I would have thought that both Man (Woman) of Action and Play it Again were cost-cutting measures.)

I've just found a programme from 11.45 to 13.00 on a Saturday in 1980 called I know What I Like, where '...speakers from many walks of life, musical and non-musical, are invited to introduce some of their favourite music'. I wonder if this is the programme which MickyD remembers?

[Andrew Slater]

(Btw, today is the 65th anniversary of the start of the Third Programme)

Where's the bunting?!

[Roslynmuse]

The 12.2 John Amis programme shared between R3 and R4 was also, at different times, introduced by Robin Ray, James Galway and Jack Brymer.

The Play It Again programme would start on R3 alone and R4 would join it an hour or an hour and a half later. There was also a regular Tuesday evening concert broadcast on both stations; this changed to a Thursday evening sometime in the late 70s. R4 also broadcast a regular Sunday concert, 8 - 9pm, Music to Remember, and Richard Baker had his These You Have Loved (later Baker's Dozen) on Sat evening, repeated 9am one weekday morning (?Thursday). All in all, R4 was putting out a fair bit of serious music at this point in time, and R2 wasn't far behind with Melodies for You, Your 100 Best Tunes, a regular summer light music festival every June, as well as more middle-of-the-road programmes like Semprini Serenade and Friday Night is Music Night (frighteningly, the only survivor).

R3's new role seems to be to cover all these things.

[MickyD]

The book says that it Man (Woman) of Action was shared with Radio 4; I don't remember that happening, so perhaps it was short-lived. It certainly wasn't happening by 1977: the programme immediately after it, Music of the Masters, was shared. This continued into 1978. I seem to remember the latter at one time being mid-week: perhaps that was when MoA was shared.

A programme earlier in the day, in 1977, introduced by John Amis, from 12.2 to 12.55, was also shared. By 1978 this had been dropped.

(I would have thought that both Man (Woman) of Action and Play it Again were cost-cutting measures.)

I've just found a programme from 11.45 to 13.00 on a Saturday in 1980 called I know What I Like, where '...speakers from many walks of life, musical and non-musical, are invited to introduce some of their favourite music'. I wonder if this is the programme which MickyD remembers?

Andrew, I think I have got my dates wrong; the programme was certainly called Man of Action, and as is so often the case with memory, I didn't go back far enough! Thanks for the research - I certainly don't remember "I Know What I Like", but there, you have the proof with Radio Times!

[french frank]

R4 was putting out a fair bit of serious music at this point in time, and R2 wasn't far behind with Melodies for You, Your 100 Best Tunes, a regular summer light music festival every June, as well as more middle-of-the-road programmes like Semprini Serenade and Friday Night is Music Night (frighteningly, the only survivor).

It looks as if the funds are being stuffed into R4 to make it the BBC's great 'public service' station while R3 is reduced to being a niche station which will struggle to exist.

R3's new role seems to be to cover all these things.

Yes, all the things that used to be considered mass audience programming.

[teamsaint]

The problem with things like R3 is that its much harder to make people take notice of the government and establishment media agendas if they are listening to , and thinking about some Beethoven, or Stravinsky, than if they are listening the the same endlessly regurgitated news agendas ( the importance of the city/politicians?europe/Obama/terrorists/whatever.)

So I would expect the trend that FF has identified to continue.

[Anna]

Did you know that Gareth, at the age of 11, filed into Assembly to Habanera from Carmen? And, at the age of 7 it was the Overture! Gosh!! He has a new book out "Music for the People" The blurb says Have you ever been carried away by a piece of classical music? The sad song of a single violin might make us cry, but the idea of finding out more about classical music can often be intimidating.

Just about sums up this programme I'm afraid, hold Gareth's hand and do not be afraid, there's nothing nasty here, just easy listening for beginners and children. Edit: Now it's Hansel and Gretel, can you hear the fairies!!

[french frank]

Well, we have Simon Russell Beale, John Wilson and Alison Balsom up ahead. What will they all bring to the programme which they have 'authored' (BBC speak)? SRB is celeb with some musical credentials ( a chorister 40 years ago and discovered to have a 'fine tenor voice' when he played Ariel at the RSC). John Wilson is the Hooray for Hollywood and MGM musicals man. Alison Balsom is the Nicola Benedetti of the trumpet (shorthand: not intended as an insult to either of them as fine young musicians; but both beloved of the media).

I'll be interested to see how all three sustain two hours of musical choices.

[zola]

Simon Russell Beale's tenure is a tie in with the Symphony tv programmes he is presenting and the splurge of related symphonic programming on R3. So I guess we will get er....symphonies. But given the format of this programme, presumably only single movements so as not to tax the attention span and risk people switching off when they haven't heard a presenter or a trail for over 20 minutes.

[ardcarp]

Couldn't Radio 2 find new slots (eg ones that used to be filled by Your 100 Best Tunes or The Organist Entertains) for this sort of stuff?

[Anna]

I've had Saturday Classics with Alison Balsom on. She's better than Gareth Malone was. It's still a few bits of this and a few bits of that but she's not patronising. Not something to deliberately switch on I'm afraid.