Essential Classics - The Continuing Debate

[Richard Tarleton]

and

b) for those who might have been keen to hear it

Love the italics.

SK maintained a lofty silence on the subject of deerhunters......

[french frank]

All radio stations face the same conundrum - how do you attract new listeners without alienating loyal ones ?

It is - and a real headache for R3. But R3 is part of a BBC radio portfolio. Radio 1 has its brief and it shed listeners to stick to that brief - the target 15-29 age group. R3 has to dilute its brief to get more listeners.

As for catholic tastes: it has added Late Junction (described proudly by the BBC as 'music not usually associated with Radio 3'), it has added the new genre of 'world music' which seldom overlaps with the Third's global classical/folk coverage, it has expanded its jazz coverage from the early days, and increasingly accepts contemporary film music.

The problem arises when even the classical programmes are made 'more simple or less intellectually demanding, especially in order to appeal to a broader audience'. I have no objection to an expansion to include other genres: I just want more nourishment from the classical programmes. Instead of which.

[ahinton]

Anyone going to suggest the cavatina from the deerhunter?

!!! - or maybe even The Sanguine Faun...

[Ein Heldenleben]

Hiya Heldenleben,

Some of the presenters should locked up for GBH of the ear'oles!
But seriously the overuse of superlatives comes at the expense of providing relevant interesting and informative dialogue.

Yes . This morning in response to Lugansky's wonderful playing of a Rachmaninov Moment Musicaux (the very loud c maj full of demi - semi quavers - one that if you have a stab at it has the neighbours banging on the wall for mercy ) - there was a "cracking " . I can only assume that the reference was to what he was doing to his knuckles....

[Ein Heldenleben]

It is - and a real headache for R3. But R3 is part of a BBC radio portfolio. Radio 1 has its brief and it shed listeners to stick to that brief - the target 15-29 age group. R3 has to dilute its brief to get more listeners.

As for catholic tastes: it has added Late Junction (described proudly by the BBC as 'music not usually associated with Radio 3'), it has added the new genre of 'world music' which seldom overlaps with the Third's global classical/folk coverage, it has expanded its jazz coverage from the early days, and increasingly accepts contemporary film music.

The problem arises when even the classical programmes are made 'more simple or less intellectually demanding, especially in order to appeal to a broader audience'. I have no objection to an expansion to include other genres: I just want more nourishment from the classical programmes. Instead of which.

Hi French Frank. - I'm not sure R1 has been that spectacularly successful in attracting a younger audience . I don't think either , if it is the case that R3 has gone more pop, that it has resulted in many more listeners. The stations that are doing well are R4 and ,with its vast investment in presenters, R2 . It doesn't help R3 that music radio audiences are rapidly fragmenting with Naxos and Spotify mopping up a lot of classical loyalists. Not to mention the CD diehards who have the time and collection to confect their own radio station.
I also don't believe that making programmes less intellectually demanding necessarily attracts a broader audience . Music can be as intellectually demanding as you want to make it - you can let this morning's L'Apres -Midi wash over you or mentally write a bar by bar musical analysis . Or like me try and work out how Lugansky gets his fingers round that Rachmaninov . But I agree that presenter tone is ( nearly ) everything when it comes to sequence radio...

[Richard Tarleton]

!!! - or maybe even The Sanguine Faun...

As a lad one of my favourite hymns was As pants the hart for cooling streams, words by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, contemporaries of our current COTW. The tune by H Wilson is lovely. I remember when I was 13 we went to a service in the chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and that was one of the hymns.

As to "Quiet moments" - did she (I would have missed it) also warn before the Boccherini that it was time to put the kettle on? Because saying "Right - it's that quiet time - kettle on, find somewhere comfy to sit" just before she plays the piece itself is too late. It's the insincerity of it that annoys me most.

[Stanfordian]

As a lad one of my favourite hymns was As pants the hart for cooling streams, words by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, contemporaries of our current COTW. The tune by H Wilson is lovely. I remember when I was 13 we went to a service in the chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and that was one of the hymns.

As to "Quiet moments" - did she (I would have missed it) also warn before the Boccherini that it was time to put the kettle on? Because saying "Right - it's that quiet time - kettle on, find somewhere comfy to sit" just before she plays the piece itself is too late. It's the insincerity of it that annoys me most.

Hiya RT,

It's nauseating and inanity at its worst, filling broadcast time with vacuous comments. The presenters concerned seem to have little knowledge of 'classical music' so maybe they have to resort to that practice. R3 seems to be aping the Classic FM style of presenting. But its not just R3. I often listen to R2 in the evening/early hours and it's just as bad there, and then Johnnie Walker comes along and gives two marvellous extended interviews with Elkie Brooks and then Alice Cooper.

[Bax-of-Delights]

Anyone going to suggest the cavatina from the deerhunter?

I did.

The email response I received from the producer would indicate that he is a reader of these boards.

[Richard Tarleton]

The email response I received from the producer would indicate that he is a reader of these boards.

Oh deer

[vinteuil]

.

... have a hart!


.

[Ein Heldenleben]

As a lad one of my favourite hymns was As pants the hart for cooling streams, words by Nahum Tate and Nicholas Brady, contemporaries of our current COTW. The tune by H Wilson is lovely. I remember when I was 13 we went to a service in the chapel of the Royal Hospital Chelsea and that was one of the hymns.

As to "Quiet moments" - did she (I would have missed it) also warn before the Boccherini that it was time to put the kettle on? Because saying "Right - it's that quiet time - kettle on, find somewhere comfy to sit" just before she plays the piece itself is too late. It's the insincerity of it that annoys me most.

Yes that hapoened. If it takes 2' 20" to boil a litre of water in a 1.5Kw kettle what piece of Boccherini would listeners recommend so as to ensure you either miss every note or have most of it accompanied by white noise ?

[french frank]

The email response I received from the producer would indicate that he is a reader of these boards.

If so, I hope a light-hearted throway remark will be taken in the spirit meant, and the less agreeable comments treated with, erm … the respect they deserve!

[french frank]

Hi French Frank. - I'm not sure R1 has been that spectacularly successful in attracting a younger audience . I don't think either , if it is the case that R3 has gone more pop, that it has resulted in many more listeners.

It's less that it has attracted more young listeners as that it shed olders ones by introducing (at least two) strategies to do so as a result of complaints from the commercials. The first time was in moving older DJs to R2 - which was about the time that Radio 2's reach soared, and R1's dipped. I think R1's audience has an average age of about 30(?) which is probably good enough to satisfy the critics. But self evidently Radio 3's attempts to 'reach a broader audience' hasn't increased reach - as was predictable: you start serving a different audience and lose existing listeners because they have less reason to tune in. If they could find a magic formula that served both audiences simultaneously they would be more successful - but that involves a search for the legendary philosopher's stone bestowing youth and immortality.

I agree with you that the strategy is unlikely to succeed, but you can't say Radio 3 hasn't tried in the past couple of decades.

[oddoneout]

In the end a prosaic English response - a pint at the pub(walk to the Paradise garden) rather than continuing nooky with the nymphs.
This is a gimmick I don't like, for several reasons, but at the moment it is I think proving popular, or at least something which is being given a try by listeners. Mind you there was a huffy comment from Ms Kein refuting suggestions that the final choice was a foregone conclusion on the part of her and/or the producer, which suggests it hasn't all been positive.

[french frank]

This is a gimmick I don't like, for several reasons, but at the moment it is I think proving popular, or at least something which is being given a try by listeners.

What is the evidence that it's proving popular? How many serious responses do they get? How many get read out? How many rude messages do they get which do/don't get read out? Amid 800,000 weekly listeners, a handful at least must enjoy jolly games.