The 2020 Survey of Classical Music on Radio 3

[Leinster Lass]

I assume you mean success as demonstrated by Suffy's list? Yes, for all I know, they could have played it 3 times every week to make the 176 broadcasts.

OK - 'relatively high position'... As it turns out, my assumption was incorrect.

[Ein Heldenleben]

176 Chunks/pieces of Gershwin is a mid-range total for Gershwin, the lowest since I started the survey was 116 in 2009, the highest 248 in 2018. Rhapsody in Blue didn't feature that highly in 2020, more of a mix of his works across the board.

Regarding Palestrina, the highest figure since I started has been only 87 back in 2013, the average is 72 pieces/chunks per year.

Palestrina - consistently the greatest composer underplayed on R3 ?
It occurs to me also that both Buxtehude and Gesualdo tallies were skewed by them being Composer of the Week.
Also true of James Johnson.

[french frank]

Not so - as Suffy says Rhapsody In Blue slipped down the table in 2020 with about 14 plays ..... Lord Stockton obviously sent out a WhatsApp message after discussions with you ff ...... anyone like to have a stab at the other 18 pieces played 14 or more times .... and spelt the same way on the Playlists .....

In fact, I would just about accept RiB as 'classical', so if it's played less and his Broadway tunes played more, that makes the situation worse, not better. If RiB were played less frequently and the Broadway music much less than that, that would (in my opinion, let me emphasise) place Gershwin closer to the position he merits in a list of classical works - just below the bottom. Bernstein is a similar figure whose classical output is nowhere near that of someone like Palestrina (or Tallis, for pete's sake, Kodaly, Scriabin, Schoenberg, to grab a few names randomly).

There's a Radio 3 'crossover' theory that if a composer has composed music considered 'classical', then that means anything by that composer is 'classical' and can be tucked in between Handel and Debussy. And if celebrated classical performers (or orchestras) record some Rodgers and Hart, it becomes 'classical' and can be tucked between Handel and Debussy.

[cloughie]

Not so - as Suffy says Rhapsody In Blue slipped down the table in 2020 with about 14 plays ..... Lord Stockton obviously sent out a WhatsApp message after discussions with you ff ...... anyone like to have a stab at the other 18 pieces played 14 or more times .... and spelt the same way on the Playlists .....

Are you talking generally or Gershwin pieces?

If the latter I would suggest a certain song from ‘Porgy and Bess’ for a warmer, easier living time of the year, Cuban Overture and American in Paris for starters - maybe ‘Someone to watch over me’, ‘I got rhythm’

[french frank]

Are you talking generally or Gershwin pieces?

Must be generally, mustn't it? 18 x 14 = 252 and GG only had 176 plays.

[antongould]

Are you talking generally or Gershwin pieces?

Sorry generally ......

[Suffolkcoastal]

Below are the figures for complete broadcasts of symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias for 2020. The total number is the lowest since I started recording these figures in 2011.

The most broadcast symphonies were
Beethoven No 7 with 22 complete broadcasts
Beethoven No 3 with 18 complete broadcasts
Mozart No 40 & Prokofiev No 1 both with 13 complete broadcasts
Beethoven No 1, Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Dvorak No 7, all with 12 complete broadcasts.
Beethoven No 5, Mahler No 4 & Shostakovich No 5, all with 11 complete broadcasts
Beethoven Nos 2 & 6, Bruckner No 6, Mozart No 41, all with 10 complete broadcasts

Composer Symphonies played *indicates highest total since 2011, #indicates lowest total since 2011.

BEETHOVEN 108*
F J HAYDN 78#
MOZART W A 71#
SCHUBERT 48
SIBELIUS 44
MAHLER 38
SHOSTAKOVICH 36
TCHAIKOVSKY 34
DVORAK 31#
MENDELSSOHN 30#
BRUCKNER 29
BACH CPE 27
BRAHMS 27#
PROKOFIEV 23
SCHUMANN 21#
BERLIOZ 20*
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 16
NIELSEN 15
BRITTEN 14
ABEL 13
STRAVINSKY 10
RACHMANINOV 9#
BOYCE 8
BACH J C 7
MARTINU 7
STRAUSS R 7
JIRANEK 6
ALBINONI 5*
BORODIN 5
HACZEWSKI 5*
SAMMARTINI 5
SCRIABIN 5
SVENDSEN 5
WALTON 5
WESLEY S 5*
BIZET 4
BRUCH 4*
DOPPER C 4*
ELGAR 4#
M HAYDN 4
MANTZAROS 4
MOZART L 4
POULENC 4*
SALIERI 4
ANDRICU 3*
BANTOCK 3
DOHNANYI 3
EYBLER 3
FARRENC 3*
HERSCHEL 3
HINDEMITH 3
MANFREDINI 3
MARTINES M 3*
PRICE F 3*
SAINT-SAENS 3
SUCHON 3*
SZYMANOWSKI 3
TARTINI 3
ADAMS 2
ARNOLD 2
BACEWICZ 2
BACH JCF 2
BACH W F 2
BOYLE I 2
BRUNT K 2
COPLAND 2
DAVIES 2
DITTERSDORF 2
DONIZETTI 2
ENESCU 2
FRANCK 2
GIPPS 2
GLASS P 2
GOSSEC 2
HALVORSEN 2
IVES 2
MEHUL 2
MILFORD 2*
MOYZES 2
MYSLIVECEK 2
PEJACEVIC 2*
PENDERECKI 2
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV 2
ROSETTI 2
STILL W G 2
SUMERA 2
TELEMANN 2
VIVALDI 2
WEBER 2
ASPELMAYR 1
BAINTON 1
BAX 1
BEACH 1
BEN HAIM P 1
BERIO 1
BERNSTEIN 1
BERWALD 1
BLISS 1
BOCCHERINI 1
BOWEN 1
CHAUSSON 1#
DENISOV 1
DUN T 1
DUTTILEUX 1
EBERL 1
ELCOCK S 1
ELSNER 1
FILS 1
GLAZUNOV 1
GLIERE 1
GLUCK 1
HARRIS 1
HASSE 1
HOLMES A 1
JANACEK 1*
KAJANUS 1
KASKI 1
KEAL M 1
KNUSSEN 1
KOECHLIN 1
KORNGOLD 1
KOZELUCH 1
KREK 1
LIE 1
MACMILLAN 1
MALDERE 1
MARQUES Y GARCIA 1
MESSIAEN 1
MIASKOVSKY 1
NAUMANN 1
NENOV 1
NORGARD 1
ODAK 1
PORTA 1
POTTER C 1
RICHTER F 1
ROMAN 1
RUBBRA 1
SAWYERS P 1
SCHNITTKE 1
SCHRECKER 1
SCHULLER G 1
SCHULTZE 1
SCIGALSKI 1
SORENSEN B 1
SORKOCEVIC 1
STAMITZ J 1
STENHAMMAR 1
SUK 1
SULLIVAN 1
SUOLAHTI 1
TAYLOR M 1
VAINBERG/WEINBERG 1
VERMEULEN 1
WALKER G 1
WALLACE W 1
WANSKI 1
WEYSE 1
WIENIAWSKI J 1
WILLIAMS G 1
ZELJENKA 1

[antongould]

Must be generally, mustn't it? 18 x 14 = 252 and GG only had 176 plays.

There you go ff is used to me mangling what used to be the English language .....

[cloughie]

There you go ff is use to me mangling what used to be the English language .....

By ‘eck ff that’s quick with sums!

It wouldn’t surprise me if my suggestion of ‘Summertime’ still qualifies!

[Rolmill]

...I would suggest a certain song from ‘Porgy and Bess’ for a warmer, easier living time of the year, Cuban Overture and American in Paris for starters - maybe ‘Someone to watch over me’, ‘I got rhythm’

Promenade ('Walking the Dog') also seems to crop up rather a lot.

[Pulcinella]

I'm intrigued that Britten features so highly in the symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias for 2020 list: 14 complete broadcasts.
Sinfonia da requiem, cello symphony, sinfonietta: that seems a lot a performances to me; or have I missed something that will make me write ', of course!'?
At least none of the sea interludes has a title involving a symphony/sinfonietta/sinfonia, so it can't be a misattribution.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I'm intrigued that Britten features so highly in the symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias for 2020 list: 14 complete broadcasts.
Sinfonia da requiem, cello symphony, sinfonietta: that seems a lot a performances to me; or have I missed something that will make me write ', of course!'?
At least none of the sea interludes has a title involving a symphony/sinfonietta/sinfonia, so it can't be a misattribution.

Sinfonietta x2, Simple Symphony x4, Sinfonia da Requiem x8 (wonder if a programmer was learning their tables!).

[Rolmill]

I'm intrigued that Britten features so highly in the symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias for 2020 list: 14 complete broadcasts.
Sinfonia da requiem, cello symphony, sinfonietta: that seems a lot a performances to me; or have I missed something that will make me write ', of course!'?
At least none of the sea interludes has a title involving a symphony/sinfonietta/sinfonia, so it can't be a misattribution.

Probably includes the Simple Symphony for strings?

Edit: Beaten to it by sfc.

Amazed at 8 outings for the Sinfonia da Requiem - that's more than Martinu or Elgar received in total!

On the other side of the coin, surprised at only 3 symphony broadcasts for Saint-Saens, given that the 'Organ' symphony seems to be ubiquitous!

[Pulcinella]

I'm intrigued that Britten features so highly in the symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias for 2020 list: 14 complete broadcasts.
Sinfonia da requiem, cello symphony, sinfonietta: that seems a lot a performances to me; or have I missed something that will make me write ', of course!'?
At least none of the sea interludes has a title involving a symphony/sinfonietta/sinfonia, so it can't be a misattribution.

Sinfonietta x2, Simple Symphony x4, Sinfonia da Requiem x8 (wonder if a programmer was learning their tables!).

Probably includes the Simple Symphony for strings?

Edit: Beaten to it by sfc.

Amazed at 8 outings for the Sinfonia da Requiem - that's more than Martinu or Elgar received in total!

On the other side of the coin, surprised at only 3 symphony broadcasts for Saint-Saens, given that the 'Organ' symphony seems to be ubiquitous!

, of course!
I'd completely forgotten about the Simple symphony.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Gershwin ‘ classical ‘ pieces = Porgy and Bess , Cuban Overture , RIB, Piano Concerto , preludes for Piano ?
Gershwin Broadway/ jazz - his musicals e.g. Girl Crazy and any songs / jazz versions extracted therefrom?
I would have thought a Gershwin song in one form or another is played on R3 relatively often and clearly more often than a Palestrina ‘song ‘

Bernstein - Classical - Symphonies, Serenade ( I suspect these are relatively rarely given an outing sadly )
Broadway - West Side Story , On The Town , Candide and songs / jazz versions extracted therefrom.
I suspect Maria , Make Our Garden Grow , Glitter and Be Gay, The WSS Symphonic Dances and Some Other Time (particularly the Bill Evans incarnation) make up the vast majority of R3 Bernstein outings..

Just read the symphony list and yes Bernstein symphonies had just one outing . I wonder if that was a repeat of the superb Proms performance of Age of Anxiety by Jean-Yves Thibaudet? The problem is that by just repeating a few pieces you don’t really do justice to the man’s talent.