Essential Classics - The Continuing Debate

[Richard Tarleton]

What harm is done if some individual wants to tweet, text or email their thanks, appreciation or whatever to a programme?

I suppose we can't know the motive of every tweeter, but the act of tweeting while the piece is in progress suggests to me that the primary motive is not to express thanks or pass a considered judgment on what has just been heard, but to have said tweet read out? It's not so much appreciative, as vain, IMV.

[french frank]

I suppose we can't know the motive of every tweeter, but the act of tweeting while the piece is in progress suggests to me that the primary motive is not to express thanks or pass a considered judgment on what has just been heard, but to have said tweet read out? It's not so much appreciative, as vain, IMV.

Far be it from me to defend such behaviour! I meant there's little harm done to anyone else provided Radio 3 doesn't waste people's time and try their patience by reading them on air. Or referring to them (as in, 'We've had floods of tweets and texts telling us how much they're enjoying our programme').

[Richard Tarleton]

Far be it from me to defend such behaviour! I meant there's little harm done to anyone else provided Radio 3 doesn't waste people's time and try their patience by reading them on air. Or referring to them (as in, 'We've had floods of tweets and texts telling us how much they're enjoying our programme').

I should confess that at least 10 years ago I wrote in after the end of a week of CDMasters programmes which featured a daily section of recordings of lute music, to express my appreciation. But this was long before the invention of Twitter, and there was no question of my message being read out on air the following week! RC was the presenter that week, but the charming email I received in reply from a producer suggested that one of the production team was largely responsible for the playlist.

[muzzer]

If I want to be patronised by a woman with a northern accent I'll watch reruns of the liver birds.

Now then, is everyone sitting down?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

If I want to be patronised by a woman with a northern accent I'll watch reruns of the liver birds.

Now then, is everyone sitting down?

Don't confuse the accent with the content. We are patronised just as much by Clemmie.

[french frank]

I should confess that at least 10 years ago I wrote in after the end of a week of CDMasters programmes which featured a daily section of recordings of lute music, to express my appreciation. But this was long before the invention of Twitter, and there was no question of my message being read out on air the following week! RC was the presenter that week, but the charming email I received in reply from a producer suggested that one of the production team was largely responsible for the playlist.

Ditto - I emailed in to express appreciation for a Voices programme, the one called, I think, The Pity of War: poetry set to music, where either the poet or composer died in WWI. This was a properly 'curated' [in this case - sic] programme. I received an email from the producer, thanking me. It was about wanting to pay tribute to those involved, and I didn't expect either them to BRAG about it on air (the following week in those days) or me to get a special mention

Out of interest(? ) - 7 Oct 2003:

Dear [french frank]

Many thanks for your kind words. And we certainly intend to do
programmes along similar lines again in the future.

Thanks again.

*****

***** *******
Senior Producer
BBC Radio 3

Sadly the programme is no more ...

[cloughie]

If I want to be patronised by a woman with a northern accent I'll watch reruns of the liver birds.

Now then, is everyone sitting down?

Why when all else fails do you have to have a go at the accent? - very sad!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

in the confessional mode: i succumbed to the allure of a short lived feature on RC's slot titled 'Evocations' by asking for a piece of music that reminded me of the landscape in autumn/winter where a very dear friend had lived and then died of a brain tumour. RC read out the request in full, including details of my friend and his death, and just played the music [slow movement from Brahms Clarinet Quintet] ... i have to say that i felt very positively about the whole thing, as if i had given my pal a public acknowledgement

i am sure that there is room for this kind of thing on a well run service - it required no faux bonhomie or personality cult, just straight talk and play the music .... i wonder if others can see the value of such a programme of 'Dedications' as opposed to top hit lists and requests for turn ons &c ... and if we must have requests, surely JRR is the model of excellence with all the requests in one programme

on one of the now defunct Jazz programmes Alyn Shipton recorded listeners' commentaries for broadcast on his surveys of the works of jazz artists and well done they were too!

in these cases there was none of the primate gossip and grooming of the 'hello' magazine sort, nor much to interest advertisers [their eyes are firmly fixated on the backside of yesterday] ... it is possible to engage with the audience via social media and audio intelligently and in the true spirit of the service - it has been done!

[Flay]

Well, thank goodness i'm not the only one who is fed up of RC talking all the time and not allowing us to just savour the work in question....I do not need to be told HOW to listen to a piece and what I should be listening out for.

I disagree. That's just what I want, someone with knowledge advising me, making sensible suggestions, encouraging further interest.

If only we could have more effort and time spent on such things, rather than on telling us all about the empty emails and tweets, R3 would be so much the better!

......."talking bollocks" I think the saying goes.

Your own lips have said it

[aeolium]

i am sure that there is room for this kind of thing on a well run service - it required no faux bonhomie or personality cult, just straight talk and play the music .... i wonder if others can see the value of such a programme of 'Dedications' as opposed to top hit lists and requests for turn ons &c ... and if we must have requests, surely JRR is the model of excellence with all the requests in one programme

I agree - I think there is a place for a request programme on R3, and there used to be such a programme on until it was canned 3 years ago: Radio 3 Requests presented by Chi-chi Nwanoku. But it was a weekly programme dedicated to requests, not a daily programme with a mish-mash of short pieces (which might or might not be the result of listener requests) mixed in with trivial chat with guests and relays of listener tweets etc. A request programme can be done well, but neither Breakfast nor Essential Classics is a request programme, and I think a proper weekly request programme is the best place for listener requests.

[french frank]

I agree - I think there is a place for a request programme on R3, and there used to be such a programme on until it was canned 3 years ago: Radio 3 Requests presented by Chi-chi Nwanoku.

Before that it was 3 For All with B. Kay, and Listeners Choice before that with H. Carpenter (the best of the three in my view because it turned up lots of little known pieces). I agree there is a place for such a (weekly?) programme. Not sure about da J's idea for dedications of that kind which reminds me of the SMP's 'Play Mozart For Me' - late night confidences which mean a lot to the chosen few but less to the rest. Some people might certainly like that kind of programme but others (at least me) would run a mile.

[cloughie]

I disagree. That's just what I want, someone with knowledge advising me, making sensible suggestions, encouraging further interest.

If only we could have more effort and time spent on such things, rather than on telling us all about the empty emails and tweets, R3 would be so much the better!



Your own lips have said it

I'm with you Flay - but I don't want the guest spot with its bleeding chunks when that spot could be filled with a good full work.

[cloughie]

I should confess that at least 10 years ago I wrote in after the end of a week of CDMasters programmes which featured a daily section of recordings of lute music, to express my appreciation. But this was long before the invention of Twitter, and there was no question of my message being read out on air the following week! RC was the presenter that week, but the charming email I received in reply from a producer suggested that one of the production team was largely responsible for the playlist.

Maybe so but do you honestly believe that Rob and Sarah have not a big chunk of influence?

[Richard Tarleton]

Maybe so but do you honestly believe that Rob and Sarah have not a big chunk of influence?

Oh sure - this was just something the reply said (it was in the days of CD Masters, not Essential Classics) - a member of the team had had (it said) a big hand in the playist for the lute feature and would be delighted to hear my comments etc.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

well with regard to 'Dedications' or something like it, those of us who do not adhere to any theist doctrines &c and have no faith in supernatural beings of any sort nor their prophets on this earth might quite prefer one day a week displacing evensong with some kind of humanist inspired programme ....

Dedication is not the same as In Memoriam .... it could be quite explicitly about current and future positive humanist issues events people &c ....