Radio 3 Schedule changes

[oddoneout]

Hello and welcome! We do try to be positive and upbeat in our comments, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
I must also point out, in the interests of fairness, that a complete Mahler song was broadcast early on in this afternoon's 'Classics Live'.

Welcome also from me, you join us at an "interesting" time! I second LMcD's difficulty in being positive and upbeat!

The online info doesn't admit to the inclusion of a Mahler song on Friday, but the playlist does list a version(some movements seem to be missing) of Janacek's Glagolitic Mass, which wasn't mentioned in the preliminary blurb - in case it frightens the punters?
The removal of the 3pm "featured work" slot means that trying to home in on a wanted item is now impossible for real-time listening. Making a guesstimate on the basis of what is in the preliminary listing doesn't work as it is, as always, incomplete, so timings could be adrift by several works. Evidently aimed completely at the stream of sound listening approach, but with longer works than the morning schedules.
So, from listening several times a week to at least part of the programme, I'll now only regularly tune in on Monday for the Wigmore Hall slot and possibly leave the radio on for what follows. However as I won't know what is going to appear it won't be "proper" listening - too many unwanted items, or filleted offerings of works I would want to hear - just half an ear out for something worth paying attention to.
One difficulty I have with the latest round of changes is that they come on top of the existing drift to easy listening/ lack of depth/removal of good programmes, that has been happening for some time already, so what meat was remaining has been even further reduced, to be replaced by the music version of MRM*.
Another issue for me is the assumption that "everyone" has access to catch up options. I don't so the time changes of key longstanding programmes means that until I remember the new times I miss them - and that's assuming the new times work in the first place, which a couple of them won't most of the time. However I accept that I will be in the minority in that respect for longstanding R3 listeners, and as one of that listening group I already don't count anyway - not the "right sort of audience"!

*mechanically recovered meat - scraps scraped off the carcass, found in junk food and reformed versions of proper cuts.

[Barbirollians]

Saturday Morning is just a slightly more highbrow version of Essential Classics with interviews. It is just yet another programme of Classic FM snippets.

[kernelbogey]

Saturday Morning is just a slightly more highbrow version of Essential Classics with interviews...

Or, I thought today, a slightly more highbrow 'In Tune'.

[cria]

Sam Jackson says he's very grateful for Patricia Nichol's balanced piece in the ST 14/4

[oddoneout]

Sam Jackson says he's very grateful for Patricia Nichol's balanced piece in the ST 14/4

I'm not surprised. No analysis or understanding of the R3 listeners' position, and concerns about the quality of content and format. This, from her article, was the only thing that came near negative comment.

Ushering in the weekend, Friday Night Is Music Night strikes me as a pappy import from Radio 2, although its light arrangements do showcase the BBC’s orchestras.

Her liking of Saturday Morning and Jools Holland, and this comment

my greatest joy remains stuff stumbled upon serendipitously because the radio just happened to be on.

will please Mr Jackson as that is presumably the intention of the hours of scrappy content. Thus completely missing a fundamental point IMO of R3 - being able to sit down to listen to complete and properly presented(in more than one sense) programmes of music.

[Serial_Apologist]

Hello and welcome! We do try to be positive and upbeat in our comments, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
I must also point out, in the interests of fairness, that a complete Mahler song was broadcast early on in this afternoon's 'Classics Live'.

[LMcD]

More good news for Mahler fans - another complete song ('Der Einsame im Herbst') in Tuesday's 'Classical Live'.

[Serial_Apologist]

More good news for Mahler fans - another complete song ('Der Einsame im Herbst') in Tuesday's 'Classical Live'.

Gosh! At this rate of generosity we should soon be getting an entire run through all the Mahler symphonies!

[LMcD]

Gosh! At this rate of generosity we should soon be getting an entire run through all the Mahler symphonies!

Why 'Der Einsame im Herbst' and not 'Der Trunkene im Frühling'? on an April afternoon?

[Ein Heldenleben]

Why 'Der Einsame im Herbst' and not 'Der Trunkene im Frühling'? on an April afternoon?

Licensing laws?

[Ein Heldenleben]

Hello and welcome! We do try to be positive and upbeat in our comments, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to do so.
I must also point out, in the interests of fairness, that a complete Mahler song was broadcast early on in this afternoon's 'Classics Live'.

In an effort to be positive -

Things that are better since I’ve been listening

- Through The Night - whole works with minimal speech rather than dead air,
- No interruptions from Test Match Special or the OU
- The BBC Phil and Symphony have a better string sound than the seventies.
- the ability to listen again through Sounds


Things that are missing
- Whole series devoted to performance of core repertoire e,g.The seventies Brendel Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, The Bach Cantatas, landmark series like from Plainsong to Polyphony,
-whole symphonies .
-whole operas on a Thursday
-intelligent Musical analysis from critics like Hans Keller or Deryck Cooke
-

Things that are irritating
- trails
- over personal presenters who use the words brilliant and fantastic all the time
- the playing of third rate works that are their because of the composer’s demographic rather than their quality.

[LMcD]

In an effort to be positive -

Things that are better since I’ve been listening

- Through The Night - whole works with minimal speech rather than dead air,
- No interruptions from Test Match Special or the OU
- The BBC Phil and Symphony have a better string sound than the seventies.
- the ability to listen again through Sounds


Things that are missing
- Whole series devoted to performance of core repertoire e,g.The seventies Brendel Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, The Bach Cantatas, landmark series like from Plainsong to Polyphony,
-whole symphonies .
-whole operas on a Thursday
-intelligent Musical analysis from critics like Hans Keller or Deryck Cooke
-

Things that are irritating
- trails
- over personal presenters who use the words brilliant and fantastic all the time
- the playing of third rate works that are their because of the composer’s demographic rather than their quality.

I agree with your list of things that are better, but can't add to it!

[french frank]

In an effort to be positive -

Interesting comments. With a determination to be negative : your four points are actually BBC improvements, which incidentally improve R3. R1 and R2, for example have also become 24-hour stations (R4 seems to have the World Service overnight). And Sounds is available on all network stations. The whole works on TTN seems to have been balanced by the lack of whole works during the day. Improvements in the BBC orchestras again are not R3 improvements

Things that are missing
- Whole series devoted to performance of core repertoire e,g.The seventies Brendel Complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas, The Bach Cantatas, landmark series like from Plainsong to Polyphony,
-whole symphonies .
-whole operas on a Thursday
-intelligent Musical analysis from critics like Hans Keller or Deryck Cooke

I cannot argue with that.

Things that are irritating
- trails
- over personal presenters who use the words brilliant and fantastic all the time
- the playing of third rate works that are their because of the composer’s demographic rather than their quality.

Not sure that I go along with the third item. Can a hard line be drawn below the works that are 'of good quality' and deserve to be played, and above the lesser works, lesser-known works which fall below the line and are not worth playing? It seems to me to be a definite duty of R3 to give a hearing to such works and put people in a position to decide for themselves whether they are 'not very good' (i.e. I didn't like that. Don't play it again.) It's where entertainment passes into education, in my view.

[LMcD]

Interesting comments. With a determination to be negative : your four points are actually BBC improvements, which incidentally improve R3. R1 and R2, for example have also become 24-hour stations (R4 seems to have the World Service overnight). And Sounds is available on all network stations. The whole works on TTN seems to have been balanced by the lack of whole works during the day. Improvements in the BBC orchestras again are not R3 improvements



I cannot argue with that.



Not sure that I go along with the third item. Can a hard line be drawn below the works that are 'of good quality' and deserve to be played, and above the lesser works, lesser-known works which fall below the line and are not worth playing? It seems to me to be a definite duty of R3 to give a hearing to such works and put people in a position to decide for themselves whether they are 'not very good' (i.e. I didn't like that. Don't play it again.) It's where entertainment passes into education, in my view.

Radio 4 hands over to the World Service at 0100 and returns with the shipping forecast at 0520, unless it's an election night.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Interesting comments. With a determination to be negative : your four points are actually BBC improvements, which incidentally improve R3. R1 and R2, for example have also become 24-hour stations (R4 seems to have the World Service overnight). And Sounds is available on all network stations. The whole works on TTN seems to have been balanced by the lack of whole works during the day. Improvements in the BBC orchestras again are not R3 improvements



I cannot argue with that.



Not sure that I go along with the third item. Can a hard line be drawn below the works that are 'of good quality' and deserve to be played, and above the lesser works, lesser-known works which fall below the line and are not worth playing? It seems to me to be a definite duty of R3 to give a hearing to such works and put people in a position to decide for themselves whether they are 'not very good' (i.e. I didn't like that. Don't play it again.) It's where entertainment passes into education, in my view.

By playing I mean frequent playing to the detriment of other much more significant composers e.g. Palestrina or Schoenberg (except for Verklarte Nacht ) or Duke Ellington who rarely get a look in. Very few classical published pieces are not worth playing - I am talking about composers whose works get played moderately frequently.