A Rainy Bank Holiday Monday morning in the car and I tuned into Essential Classics more in hope than expectation but was very pleasantly surprised to hear Berg's Violin Concerto and not Dvorak's Hovis symphony or Khachaturian's Onedin Line etc. Now It's not that I'm a Berg "enthusiast" but his music challenges me to listen, to understand and to appreciate- exactly as Radio 3's output once did regularly and I was glad of it.
The reason for this piece was unsurprisingly yet another "theme" programme so beloved of producers - and the theme was portraits for some daft reason I can't bothered to investigate, but maybe Radio 3's redemption lies in these special programmes so I'd like to offer two points for discussion:-
1) Themes, one-offs and specials may be puerile in concept but they force programme planners away from the usual playlists as they try and fill the alotted time, and this produces a more varied programme content, so even if the theme is silly or desperate, the outcome is often serendipitous for dedicated listeners
2) It occurred to me to email the programme praising the selections. Maybe as a campaigning technique the idea of accentuating the positive when we do enjoy something has far more power than our carping and moaning when we don't. I suspect my criticisms now evoke nothing more than an amused chuckle but everyone loves flattery and praise, so instead of lambasting Breakfast when I hear Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, perhaps I should instead praise them fulsomely for some unusual and obscure offering whenever it occurs
Worth a try anyway!
The reason for this piece was unsurprisingly yet another "theme" programme so beloved of producers - and the theme was portraits for some daft reason I can't bothered to investigate, but maybe Radio 3's redemption lies in these special programmes so I'd like to offer two points for discussion:-
1) Themes, one-offs and specials may be puerile in concept but they force programme planners away from the usual playlists as they try and fill the alotted time, and this produces a more varied programme content, so even if the theme is silly or desperate, the outcome is often serendipitous for dedicated listeners
2) It occurred to me to email the programme praising the selections. Maybe as a campaigning technique the idea of accentuating the positive when we do enjoy something has far more power than our carping and moaning when we don't. I suspect my criticisms now evoke nothing more than an amused chuckle but everyone loves flattery and praise, so instead of lambasting Breakfast when I hear Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, perhaps I should instead praise them fulsomely for some unusual and obscure offering whenever it occurs
Worth a try anyway!
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