I fear they've defeated us.

[James Wonnacott]

I haven't been here for some time now as I've all but given up on Radio 3 other than "through the Night". I've even taken to starting work at 6.30 so I can get there before that silly schoolgirl starts babbling (though reading one thread I see she's gone - dare I turn on to see who has replaced her?).
I note that the last post on the Playlist Forum was on Thursday and the other threads are not very lively so I can only guess that others have, like me, given up all hope and gone to the CDs and ipods.
I have, however, really embraced the texting habit on Saturday "breakfast" if I find myself in the kitchen where I only have a radio -usually along the lines of "For goodness sake stop babbling and play some classical music!"

[Beef Oven!]

I haven't been here for some time now as I've all but given up on Radio 3 other than "through the Night". I've even taken to starting work at 6.30 so I can get there before that silly schoolgirl starts babbling (though reading one thread I see she's gone - dare I turn on to see who has replaced her?).
I note that the last post on the Playlist Forum was on Thursday and the other threads are not very lively so I can only guess that others have, like me, given up all hope and gone to the CDs and ipods.
I have, however, really embraced the texting habit on Saturday "breakfast" if I find myself in the kitchen where I only have a radio -usually along the lines of "For goodness sake stop babbling and play some classical music!"

Do your texts get aired!?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I have, however, really embraced the texting habit on Saturday "breakfast" if I find myself in the kitchen where I only have a radio -usually along the lines of "For goodness sake stop babbling and play some classical music!"

I've often thought about doing this, but you really have.

[James Wonnacott]

Do your texts get aired!?

Oddly, no.

[James Wonnacott]

I've often thought about doing this, but you really have.

It's worth the 20p

[DracoM]

You're obviously the wrong kind of listener.

[teamsaint]

You're obviously the wrong kind of listener.

AND needs a better mobile tariff.

[gurnemanz]

I agree to some extent but for me the point made is spoilt by the "them" (baddies) v "us" (goodies) kind of argumentation. I tend to be asleep during the night and if I just want classical music wall to wall during the day I can play recordings or go to satellite/online stations like RAI FD5. I suppose it would be great if the BBC could run a parallel station like that which just played the music. It is not fair that classical fans in UK only have CFM or Radio 3 whereas rock fans have umpteen variants. I don't listen to R3 that much before mid-day, when I tend to prefer the "talk" channels but can't really find much to object to about to Composer of the Week and the Lunchtime Concerts, which I do usually listen to, especially the Lieder recitals. I can't really see in which radically different way they should be handling the live evening concerts. Despite annoyances, I am still a "FoR3" and will resist cutting off my nose to spite my face.

[Paul Sherratt]

>rock fans have umpteen variants

Not sure that they do but there are a fair few folk who don't fall in to either of those two ( rock and classical ) categories

[aeolium]

can't really find much to object to about to Composer of the Week and the Lunchtime Concerts, which I do usually listen to, especially the Lieder recitals

I don't like the fairly recent innovation of chopping up concerts for the Lunchtime "Concert", presumably to make them go further. See for instance this week's programmes from Tuesday to Friday where three separate concerts are mixed up to make up four lunchtime slots. It makes a mockery of anyone who has tried to construct a meaningful programme for a concert in which some works relate back to earlier ones in the programme (and it confuses those making up the playlists, e.g. Tuesday's concert shows the Takacs Quartet playing with Lawrence Power in a Mozart quartet, whereas in reality Power is only involved in the Dvorak quintet broadcast on the Friday).

[french frank]

I don't like the fairly recent innovation of chopping up concerts for the Lunchtime "Concert", presumably to make them go further. See for instance this week's programmes from Tuesday to Friday where three separate concerts are mixed up to make up four lunchtime slots. It makes a mockery of anyone who has tried to construct a meaningful programme for a concert in which some works relate back to earlier ones in the programme (and it confuses those making up the playlists, e.g. Tuesday's concert shows the Takacs Quartet playing with Lawrence Power in a Mozart quartet, whereas in reality Power is only involved in the Dvorak quintet broadcast on the Friday).

The new 'condition' for Radio 3 is that only 40% of its music output needs to be 'live' (i.e. not CDs). We're used to 'live' meaning either a live broadcast or a recording of a concert/recital/studio performance, as against CDs. As far as the 40% goes, there's also no limit on how much of that can be repeats.

As for wall-to-wall classical music - there are endless foreign stations available, churning out just that: you can even find stations playing just Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach Cantatas etc. (I've just switched to the Haydn station - Piano sonata 16, Hob no - oops, just changed to the Beaux Arts playing piano trio in G minor ...) ]These appear to be single movements, but I find that slightly more listenable they're by the same composer.

I am just back from the gym where, unusually, Radio 1 was the chosen station: Gemma Cairney sits in for Fearne Cotton. You can say that the 'babble' on this and Radio 3 (tweets, text, chatter) are 'distinctive' in targeting different audiences, but that's no consolation to those who don't want 'babble' at all.

I would regard it as a FoR3 principle that Radio 3 should NOT play wall-to-wall classical music. Apart from the point alluded to by Mr Sherratt that it should have other kinds of music; also, crucially, the addition of informed introductions and, where appropriate, discussions too.

[Latest: Calm Radio - Haydn, has just had a promo for a couple of minutes with an American voice advertising various apps, Android, Blackberry etc. I felt a certain impatience to get back to the music - now a string quartet - but it wasn't half as irritating to me as R3 because it has an obvious purpose.]

[aeolium]

ff, I'm not sure that you weren't responding to gurnemanz's post (msg 8) here rather than mine....

[french frank]

ff, I'm not sure that you weren't responding to gurnemanz's post (msg 8) here rather than mine....

I was indeed - particularly the wall-to-wall comment! Sorry!

The chopping up of recitals was sort of relevant to R3's new, reduced, obligations regarding 'live' music.

[ahinton]

informed introductions and, where appropriate, discussions too

Of course - but there a world of difference (said he, stating the b*e*d**g obvious) between either of those and the kind of idle chatter that irritates many poeople and contributes nothing to the music broadcast besides a distraction therefrom.

[cloughie]

As for wall-to-wall classical music - there are endless foreign stations available, churning out just that: you can even find stations playing just Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Brahms, Bach Cantatas etc. (I've just switched to the Haydn station - Piano sonata 16, Hob no - oops, just changed to the Beaux Arts playing piano trio in G minor ...) ]These appear to be single movements, but I find that slightly more listenable they're by the same composer.

Maybe the opportunity was lost when the BBC DAB stations were set up and we didn't get R3extra which would have been the R3 equivalent of R2's 6R. This would have been a TTD. Are bleedin chunks oh Haydn Hobnobs?