The 2023 Survey of Classical Music on Radio 3

[Suffolkcoastal]

Here’s my 2023 Survey of Classical Music on Radio 3, the 15th I’ve undertaken. 2023 was a very depressing year for me personally and seeing the state of R3 hasn’t exactly improved things. The R3 website remains a total & utter embarrassment. The obsession with arrangements of works, still shows no sign of abating, as is the utter obsession with being diverse. Whilst some of this is positive in bringing a handful of notable composers into the spotlight it some exceptionally fine & important composers are being all but ignored due as they don’t fit in with the R3 diversity agenda or Classic FM imitation one either.
The day’s broadcast is now almost completely filled with nothing but presenter driven chunk playlists. The percentage of full & larger scale works broadcast has fallen to abysmal levels. This is shown for example by the total number of complete symphonies broadcast, which has fallen by around 25% from 10 years ago. Whilst the number of works/chunks broadcast yearly has increased by nearly 30% from 10 years ago. I wonder if management/presenters have competitions to see just how many chunks can be squeezed into one programme.
Another very noticeable observation is the increasing narrowing of the variety of works by individual composers. Take West Side Story, Candide & the Wonderful Town Overture away from the Bernstein total and you’re left with a handful of occurrences of anything else. Around 2/3rds of Gluck is Orpheus & Euridice, around a quarter of Tchaikovsky is the 3 ballets, with The Nutcracker account for half of that. In fact of the R3 warhorse pieces, which I monitor, a majority had record numbers of broadcasts, which has not occurred in such numbers before. As for the Christmas programming, it was horrendous and appears to have begun earlier than usual. It really did look like blatant ClassicFM imitation. Having said that, Classic FM’s choice of music was more wide-ranging.

As usual, a list of all composers with 50 or more pieces/chunks broadcast is in the thread below. As last year the *against a composer indicates the highest number of pieces/chunks by that composer since I began my survey in 2009, The increase in increasingly small chunks this year has resulted in quite a few composers having record numbers of bits & pieces broadcast since 2009. If there are any composers not in this category that you would like to know the figures for, then as usual please let me know.

The Symphony Survey results will follow tomorrow (I hope).

[Suffolkcoastal]

1 bach j s 1814
2 mozart w a 1612
3 beethoven 1160
4 schubert 1111
5 handel 844
6 haydn f j 798
7 brahms 774
8 chopin 714
9 debussy 698
10 dvorak* 641
11 tchaikovsky p i* 612
12 vivaldi* 585
13 mendelssohn felix 566
13 ravel 566
14 rachmaninov* 541
15 schumann r 500
16 byrd* 455
17 strauss r 409
18 sibelius 408
19 elgar 401
20 grieg 388
21 shostakovich* 368
22 vaughan williams 354
23 britten 344
24 purcell h 329
25 faure* 326
26 saint-saens 325
27 liszt 310
28 prokofiev s 295
29 poulenc* 279
30 gershwin* 277
31 stravinsky 272
32 telemann 239
33 scarlatti d* 223
34 rossini 219
35 mahler g 218
35 wagner r 218
36 monteverdi 211
37 verdi 204
38 rameau 203
39 berlioz 196
40 holst g 180
41 price florence* 169
42 bach c p e 166
43 schumann c 161
44 bartok 157
45 bizet* 154
46 janacek 151
47 glass p* 148
47 walton w 148
48 coleridge-taylor s* 147
49 nielsen c 146
50 strauss j ii 134
51 weber c m von 133
52 korngold 131
53 copland 130
54 respighi* 129
55 puccini 128
56 mendelssohn fanny* 126
57 ligeti g* 125
58 sullivan* 122
59 tallis 118
60 falla* 115
61 bruckner 114
62 smetana 113
63 bernstein l 112
63 williams john* 112
64 strozzi b* 111
65 richter m* 110
66 piazzolla 109
67 bingen hildegard of* 102
67 dowland 102
67 rimsky korsakov 102
68 grainger p 100
68 satie 100
69 barber s 99
70 boulanger l 98
70 franck c 98
71 beach 97
71 part 97
72 albeniz 96
73 wallen e* 92
74 delius 89
75 finzi 88
76 corelli 86
77 villa lobos 85
78 chaminade* 84
79 glazunov 83
80 bruch 82
81 macmillan j 79
81 pejacevic* 79
82 adams j 77
83 boccherini* 76
83 borodin 76
83 couperin f 76
83 mussorgsky 76
84 coates e* 75
84 kodaly 75
84 palestrina 75
85 bonis m* 73
85 shaw caroline* 73
86 bridge frank 72
86 reich 72
86 weir j 72
87 arnold m 71
87 martinu 71
87 still w g 71
88 bacewicz* 70
88 farrenc l* 70
88 kreisler f 70
88 schoenberg 70
89 gabrieli g 69
89 tailleferre* 69
90 humperdinck* 68
91 chabrier 66
91 suk 66
92 scriabin 65
93 smyth 64
94 biber 63
94 messiaen 63
95 stanford 62
95 tavener 62
95 williams grace* 62
96 delibes* 61
96 wolf h 61
97 buxtehude 60
97 ireland j 60
97 paganini 60
97 rodrigo 60
97 tabakova 60
98 bach j christian* 59
99 howells 58
99 saint-georges* 58
100 ades* 57
100 hummel j n 57
100 khachaturian 57
100 massenet 57
100 szymanowski 57
101 abel k* 55
101 arnalds* 55
102 butterworth g 54
102 gluck 54
102 milhaud 54
102 scarlatti a 54
102 weelkes* 54
103 gipps 53
103 glinka 53
103 lassus 53
103 rutter* 53
104 gounod 52
104 silvestrov v* 52
104 tippett 52
104 whitacre e* 52
105 kapustin n* 51
106 gibbons o 50

[french frank]

Well done, Suffy. Many thanks - it's good to have 'perceptions' supported by hard evidence.

[LMcD]

Well done, Suffy. Many thanks - it's good to have 'perceptions' supported by hard evidence.

It would be interesting to learn what proportion of the Mahler chunks was accounted for by the Adagietto from the 5th Symphony!

[Ein Heldenleben]

It would be interesting to learn what proportion of the Mahler chunks was accounted for by the Adagietto from the 5th Symphony!

According to Suffolk Coastal’s databank Venice died 3 times in the last thirty days as a single movement and once in a complete performance. This is out of 15 Gustav Mahler appearances . A complete symphony featured a mere four times - a poor outing for the greatest symphonist of the 20th century perhaps ?

Just back from a superb performance of Mahler 4 by the Philharmonia and Santtu- Matias Rouvali at the RFH which was being recorded for future broadcast.That is worth looking out for,

Andrew makes a very good point . Where is the range ? Bernstein is so much more that WSS and On the Town . What about the symphonies ? The Serenade ? A Quiet Place ? And it’s not just Bernstein. Too many composers are represented by just three or four works.

[Boilk]

Reviewing Suffolkcoastal's data for the last 5 years, there is a more-or-less consistent Radio 3 'Top 5', ‘Top 6-10’, ‘Top 11-15’ and 16-20. I haven’t done any standard deviation calculations, but IMO this can’t be coincidence, they are working to quotas on specific composers.

Obviously, the pecking order is upset by major anniversaries (Bethoven, RVW and Byrd of late). I guess without ‘Bach Before 7’, JSB would be somewhat level-pegging with Mozart.

[LMcD]

Perhaps we'll be swamped this year with chunks, or even complete works, marking the centenary of Stanford's birth? Ireland's National Symphony Orchestra starts its celebrations start tonight with a concert in Dublin's National Concert Hall, broadcast live on Lyric FM.

[french frank]

I haven’t done any standard deviation calculations, but IMO this can’t be coincidence, they are working to quotas on specific composers.

Obviously, the pecking order is upset by major anniversaries (Bethoven, RVW and Byrd of late). I guess without ‘Bach Before 7’, JSB would be somewhat level-pegging with Mozart.

I wonder whether they're using Suffy's lists to compile their playlists, feeding the lists into their computers? In 5 years Dvořák comes 10th in 4 years and 11th in the fifth. Whatever guidelines they're using, it has little to do with knowledgeable people selecting varied playlists from the vast number of works/composers available.

I'd always imagined that at least the production staff knew a thing or two about classical music. Either I was wrong on that or they are just following strict instructions from management.

[duncan]

... as is the utter obsession with being diverse.

I am with you regarding Radio 3's seeming increasing tendency to play single movements or chunks rather than entire pieces. I would be interested to see if any data supports our perception. However, your own list of composers featured demonstrates the Top 40 - cue Radio One run-down music of your choice* - are all 'male, pale, and stale'! These data don't suggest to me any "obsession" is having a huge impact on what is played.

(Parenthetically, I've enjoyed hearing the occasional piece from number 41 and 48 in the last few years. Their forms are rather conservative for their eras - not surprising, given who they are - and their work is hardly Top 10 material but they are very enjoyable to listen to from time-to-time. I love Dvorak but it's also good to have the a bit of sub-Dvorak from Croydon for variety**.)

*Booker T and the MGs - Time Is Tight from Johnny Walker's shows in the 1970s, giving a clue that whilst I am not quite stale I am starting to go off a bit!

**I attended the Chineke! junior orchestra concert in Fairfield Hall last summer - another clue! - who performed Coleridge-Taylor's Symphony in A minor, a student work heavily indebted to the Czech composer. It's not a masterpiece but it's a lovely piece that deserves to be heard occasionally.

[antongould]

Excellent work as always Suffy ……. well worth waiting for ………

[Suffolkcoastal]

Here's the Symphony breakdown for those composers who had 5 or more symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias broadcast complete in 2023. The total number of all symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias broadcast in 2023 was 890 which is far lower even than last year's record low. As mentioned above, yet another indication of the dominance of the CFM style presenter focused play(snippet)lists on R3.

MOZART W A	63
F J HAYDN	59
BEETHOVEN	48
SIBELIUS	40
TCHAIKOVSKY	38
MAHLER	37
SCHUBERT	33
BRAHMS	31
DVORAK	31
BACH CPE	25
MENDELSSOHN	25
NIELSEN	23
SHOSTAKOVICH	21
PROKOFIEV	20
RACHMANINOV	20
SCHUMANN	20
BRUCKNER	16
ABEL	13
MARTINU	12
STRAVINSKY	12
ELGAR	10
BERLIOZ	7
BOYCE	7
PRICE F	7
SAINT-SAENS	7
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS	7
CHAUSSON	6
SCRIABIN	6
STRAUSS R	6
FRANCK	5
MANTZAROS	5
MARTINES M	5
POULENC	5
SCHENCKER A	5

Individual symphonies with 10 or more complete broadcasts were:

TCHAIKOVSKY No 5 x15
RACHMANINOV No 2 x14
DVORAK No 9 x12
SIBELIUS No 7 x11
BRAHMS No 2 x10
MOZART No 40 x10
SIBELIUS No 5 x10
TCHAIKOVSKY No 6 x10

[french frank]

Hmm, Vaughan Williams 7, the same as William Boyce?

[Suffolkcoastal]

Hmm, Vaughan Williams 7, the same as William Boyce?

The same as Saint-Saens No 3. The most concerning drop is FJ Haydn, complete performances of his symphonies are in danger, like many things, in being confined to TTN.

[Boilk]

Below I’ve summarized Suffolkcoastal’s last 5 years’ data of complete symphony broadcasts by top 20 composers only. For the 2019-2023 period, there is indeed a marked decline in number of whole symphony broadcasts but it’s really only among the untouchable ‘holy trinity’ at the top (specifically: Haydn -31%, Mozart -14%, Beethoven -27%).

Among composers ranked 4 to 20, this is generally not the case. However, two notable 5-year trends are a sinking Shostakovich (-46%) and a surging Carl Nielsen (+64%).Only Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius are in the top 4-10 across last 5 years. Over the last 3 years that would include Brahms and CPE Bach.

Bruckner peaked to 11th place back in 2020, but cracking the top 10 is a safe prediction for 2024 because even if he’s not Composer of the Week again, he’ll likely overtake CPE Bach with a little help from the Proms in his bicentennial year.

[oddoneout]

Below I’ve summarized Suffolkcoastal’s last 5 years’ data of complete symphony broadcasts by top 20 composers only. For the 2019-2023 period, there is indeed a marked decline in number of whole symphony broadcasts but it’s really only among the untouchable ‘holy trinity’ at the top (specifically: Haydn -31%, Mozart -14%, Beethoven -27%).

Among composers ranked 4 to 20, this is generally not the case. However, two notable 5-year trends are a sinking Shostakovich (-46%) and a surging Carl Nielsen (+64%).Only Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius are in the top 4-10 across last 5 years. Over the last 3 years that would include Brahms and CPE Bach.

Bruckner peaked to 11th place back in 2020, but cracking the top 10 is a safe prediction for 2024 because even if he’s not Composer of the Week again, he’ll likely overtake CPE Bach with a little help from the Proms in his bicentennial year.

I landed on this by accident(errant mouse action), but having skimmed through the figures it seemed to me that the total annual broadcasts had dropped off the last two years so I added the columns up. 2019 came to 70, 2020 to 723, 2021 to 742, 2022 to 631, and 2023 to 587.
Does this mean that more works by non top-20 composers are being played, ie the total annual output by all composers is similar, or that fewer such works by any composer are being broadcast?
Did the pestilence years have more broadcasts of the top 20(more existing recordings available) but fewer of any others?