Hovis

[Bryn]

Currently on Radio 4 (why not on Radio 3), Tales from the Stave. Well worth catching via the iPlayer later.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Currently on Radio 4 (why not on Radio 3)

Radio 4 and the Home Service used to have regular evening concerts, while the Radio 3 & the Third Programme had evening drama/philosophy, etc.

[french frank]

Next week it looks like the Glagolitic Mass. I assume a deal was done - Radio 3 would drop the (expensive) heavy stuff that new listeners might find 'intimidating' and concentrate on the less muscular end of classical music for the beginners. Radio 4, dripping with cash compared to Radio 3, to take on serious music speech which will have an appeal for their intelligent listenership.

[Bryn]

Next week it looks like the Glagolitic Mass. I assume a deal was done - Radio 3 would drop the (expensive) heavy stuff that new listeners might find 'intimidating' and concentrate on the less muscular end of classical music for the beginners. Radio 4, dripping with cash compared to Radio 3, to take on serious music speech which will have an appeal for their intelligent listenership.

Hmm. We will have to hear out next week's programme to be clearer re. that. Will they discuss the various editions? Looks like they will. One for the diary anyway, especially with one of our own involved.

[french frank]

One for the diary anyway, especially with one of our own involved.

Ah, yes, had missed that fact.

(Always wanted to know what Gongers sounded like!!!)

[DublinJimbo]

Next week it looks like the Glagolitic Mass. I assume a deal was done - Radio 3 would drop the (expensive) heavy stuff that new listeners might find 'intimidating' and concentrate on the less muscular end of classical music for the beginners. Radio 4, dripping with cash compared to Radio 3, to take on serious music speech which will have an appeal for their intelligent listenership.

If that was indeed the thinking, then it makes a sorry commentary on the direction Radio 3 has taken. This is the very meaty stuff that made the old Third Programme so treasurable. I remember three instances with special clarity: an extended programme of organ music by Messiaen (whose name I had never heard until then and didn't even know how to spell) which took my breath away and had me rushing to learn more about this extraordinary music; a first-play (would it have been courtesy of John Peel?) of music from Evita (I had brush in hand at the time, busily re-decorating my bedroom, but couldn't continue with my painting chore due to total involvement with the radio); and several instances when my parents had to defer meal times to coincide with intervals during live broadcasts from Bayreuth.

Nothing about the present-day Radio 3 engenders anything like the excitement of those heady days. Ah, memories …

(And, returning to topic, that Tale from the Stave was a fascinating listen.)

[cloughie]

Currently on Radio 4 (why not on Radio 3), Tales from the Stave. Well worth catching via the iPlayer later.

Talking about Music was on Radio 4 - so why not?

[Bryn]

Talking about Music was on Radio 4 - so why not?

My question was "why not on Radio 3?", not "why on Radio 4?".

[Alison]

The Radio 3 schedule is too rigid to allow for occasional series like this.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

The Radio 3 schedule is too rigid to allow for occasional series like this.

They can be flexible (when they want to be). Essential Classics was curbed to make way for EIF concerts in August, and BaL was given a 1-week break recently.

[french frank]

The Radio 3 schedule is too rigid to allow for occasional series like this.

That is the way that Roger finally carried the day, finishing off what Nick Kenyon started - to change the schedule from 'no fixed points' to 'all fixed points'. It was very recently that there was a series on a Sunday afternoon, and even more recently that the regular Saturday Music Feature was axed.

Policy, not necessity - just the chosen method of cost-cutting. Three hours of Essential Classics is a cheapo programme, like Breakfast. That's why they take up the entire morning between them. We know, from the time when they were careless enough to allow us to find the full commissioning briefs online, the difference in cph of a feature compared with a presenter-led CD sequence.

[Dave2002]

Ah, yes, had missed that fact.

(Always wanted to know what Gongers sounded like!!!)

You and Bryn obviously know too much! I expect all will become clearer next week - well, maybe!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

(Always wanted to know what Gongers sounded like!!!)

???

Are you joking? My access to the R4 website displays no such suggestion/evidence.

[Dave2002]

That is the way that Roger finally carried the day, finishing off what Nick Kenyon started - to change the schedule from 'no fixed points' to 'all fixed points'. It was very recently that there was a series on a Sunday afternoon, and even more recently that the regular Saturday Music Feature was axed.

Policy, not necessity - just the chosen method of cost-cutting. Three hours of Essential Classics is a cheapo programme, like Breakfast. That's why they take up the entire morning between them. We know, from the time when they were careless enough to allow us to find the full commissioning briefs online, the difference in cph of a feature compared with a presenter-led CD sequence.

Is this also to do with the way things "work" (or not) nowadays, with outsourced production companies producing programmes? Such companies - and some may well be run by former BBC people or people who are still also working for the BBC - probably want to ensure a revenue stream, so may insist on some form of business continuity. This is speculation on my part, but it could explain the relative lack of flexibility.

Also, and perhaps OT for this thread (!!) I heard a trail this morning on R4 suggesting that some form of consulation is still going on. I missed the deadline for the last one pointed out by the cockney chap (CS). I could have tried, there seemed to be so much complicated material to go through that I couldn't face it before the 12 midnight deadline. There is still one (at least one) active - and there have been several - some from HMG and some from the BBC. Of course trying to make consultations so complicated that people won't bother is, sadly, part of the game.

[french frank]

Is this also to do with the way things "work" (or not) nowadays, with outsourced production companies producing programmes? Such companies - and some may well be run by former BBC people or people who are still also working for the BBC - probably want to ensure a revenue stream, so may insist on some form of business continuity. This is speculation on my part, but it could explain the relative lack of flexibility.

As far as I could tell from the commissioning briefs that I've seen, Radio 3 states what it wants and puts it out to tender (and there are various companies able to oblige). Essential Classics is pretty much exactly what they asked for: a programme whose aim was to hold on to as many of the Breakfast audience (new listeners) as possible, and be appealing to Radio 4 listeners who might be looking for somewhere to switch to (music?) when the Today programme finished at 9am.

Half of that chimes with what Paul Gambaccini said about his controversial 'Morning Collection' - also at 9am: “I had a specific mission to invite Today listeners to stay with the BBC rather than go to Classic FM, and to do it in a way which was consistent with the quality and content of Radio 3.” (Radio Times 3-9 February 1996 pp 6-7).