Saturday Classic - does it get any worse ?

[Honoured Guest]

[James Wonnacott]

It certainly can get worse- and did this week. Film music - followed by guess what? more film music
If I wanted film music I'd go the the cinema!

[french frank]

It certainly can get worse- and did this week. Film music - followed by guess what? more film music
If I wanted film music I'd go the the cinema!

I didn't listen to the programme, but I think one might make a distinction between music written for film by composers who normally compose(d) what we might, loosely speaking, call 'classical music'. And music composed by highly paid, high-profile composers of music for what are intended from their very inception to be popular, high-grossing blockbuster films, and whose composing track record is almost exclusively in writing film scores.

One might have a certain interest in the first, though using a total of 3 hours Saturday programming just to highlight the annual BAFTA award beano (most of which is focused on acting and production, anyway) seems like another deliberate thumbing of the nose at Classic FM - 'anyway, our film music is better than your film music. Sometimes'.

[Anna]

I really enjoyed this week's Saturday Classics - Part 1 of 3 - Lucy Worsley on the various King George's wives, mistresses and music. OK, it ties in with her new tv series on the Georgians but I thought it was very interesting and a welcome change from the usual programme.

[teamsaint]

The music looks interesting.
Pity they can't find anybody other than the acceptable face of the establishment to present though.

But I suppose that is the point.

Disappointing times.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

it is difficult to distinguish between a poor idea [film music is without doubt a really poor programme idea for R3 but might be a not bad topic in another programme] and a poorly made/presented programme although in the R3 case it is clear that the programming of playlist programmes is both poorly conceived and very badly presented ... of all stations R3 is antithetical to personalised chat broadcasting - it is and ought to be essentially serious, informative & instructive - even didactic - but not 'chatty' [incidentally being good at chatty is like finding hen's teeth; zillions of wannabees for but one Wogan, and in the current stable only Mr Skelly gets close.]

so that this morning we had a chat about the Lark Ascending which as a piece of music suffers much the same fate as Kind of Blue the album by Miles Davis used at every moment by tv producers ... both being trivialised by inappropriate and excessive repetition

[Black Swan]

I really enjoyed this week's Saturday Classics - Part 1 of 3 - Lucy Worsley on the various King George's wives, mistresses and music. OK, it ties in with her new tv series on the Georgians but I thought it was very interesting and a welcome change from the usual programme.

I agree with Anna, and am really enjoying today's program as well.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Crooner alert.
Now playing: Francoise Hardy - Soleil.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Crooner alert.
Now playing: Francoise Hardy - Soleil.

The presenter is someone I'm not familiar with: Richard Sisson.

[mercia]

The presenter is someone I'm not familiar with: Richard Sisson.

he's the 'Widow' part of 'Kit and the Widow', which may leave you none the wiser this is a repeat of his July 2013 programme

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

... which may leave you none the wiser

You're quite right.

I'm coming to the view that all programmes of this kind should be pre-recorded. It effectively eliminates texts, tweets, etc.

[french frank]

It effectively eliminates texts, tweets, etc.

Oh, fer goodness sake, Alps. That's WHY it's live: so that there can be texts and tweets.

It is, expressly, another of the programmes aimed at attracting 'the new listener' :-/

[I don't know why people send me emails, 14:15.36 : "I've already found the presentation irritatingly lightweight - too much self-indulgent waffle and witter from the presenter]. I suppose I could send it on to Radio 3. Richard Sisson is a 'proper' musician, though that doesn't necessarily mean he'll produce an interesting programme. According to the website there were 45 items. Average length about 2 1/2 minutes? Can that be right? Nick Pynn, George Gershwin, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Michel Legrand, Mel Torme, Richard Rodgers - I must nip over to Facebook and 'Like' the programme

[Suffolkcoastal]

Its the usual doubling up of the playlist frenchie. Is that really supposed to be Gilbert O'Sullivan or Gilbert and Sullivan? With all this copying of CFM why don't they copy the CFM style website, we might actually then have one that is accurate and up to date. Mind you the hopeless R3 staff would probably still manage to mess it up.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Oh, fer goodness sake, Alps. That's WHY it's live: so that there can be texts and tweets.

It is, expressly, another of the programmes aimed at attracting 'the new listener' :-/

[I don't know why people send me emails, 14:15.36 : "I've already found the presentation irritatingly lightweight - too much self-indulgent waffle and witter from the presenter]. I suppose I could send it on to Radio 3. Richard Sisson is a 'proper' musician, though that doesn't necessarily mean he'll produce an interesting programme. According to the website there were 45 items. Average length about 2 1/2 minutes? Can that be right? Nick Pynn, George Gershwin, Gilbert O'Sullivan, Michel Legrand, Mel Torme, Richard Rodgers - I must nip over to Facebook and 'Like' the programme

[french frank]

Is that really supposed to be Gilbert O'Sullivan or Gilbert and Sullivan?

Take your pick, Suffy. They try both:





Bother. I've just finished a piece about the sloppy online content. This one is too good to miss.