Originally posted by gurnemanz
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I really enjoy Choral Evensong, mainly for the music rather than the liturgy. I am an old codger and was an undergraduate in Durham umpteen years ago but still have fond memories of being able to listen to Evensong in the cathedral - what an environment to listen to this music! I am not a church-goer but am chairman at our local Choral Society and it is good to keep in touch with this type of music. I worked in Leipzig for several years - my wife grew up there - and we regularly used to attend the free weekly Thomanerchor performances of cantatas and motets (I knew the organist there - Bach's successor! - as his English teacher), so I am very pleased that the BBC continues with its evensong broadcasts, because where I now live I am not able to experience this music in situ on a regular basis. It makes little difference to me whether the music is transmitted live or recorded.
I am very grateful to these CE threads for the insights into this music which it affords to a non-expert like me, but I do find the atmosphere here somewhat rarefied and generally feel a bit like an eavesdropper with little to contribute. The negativity, not to say sourness, that seems to prevail here with reference to Radio 3 in general is for me somewhat off-putting and rather baffling. For example, comments above such as "most R3 programmes (they call them ‘shows’, for heaven’s sake!) are freighted with so much emetic – endless chattering frivolity, a cocktail-party ambience, grinding trail after grinding trail" are for me unfair, superficial and overstated. There might be some of that sort of stuff but there is mercifully little evidence of it between midday and 5pm. If there were, I would probably not be listening. I have been listening to Radio 3 for well over 50 years and agree that some recent trends are unwelcome, but do not expect everyone to share my preferences in presentation style. A very good friend of mine loves the morning programmes. I tend not to tune in before mid-day, but still find plenty to relish on the Radio 3 schedule. If it doesn't appeal, I play recorded music or listen to internet stations of which there are many excellent ones (including MDR Klassik from Leipzig, just for old times' sake). I have recently taken the plunge and subscribed to Spotify. I really appreciate the lunchtime concerts, being a Lieder fanatic and lover of chamber music. I mostly enjoy Composer of the Week and will usually take in the afternoon concerts, often on headphones in the garden whilst pruning or pottering or just sitting down and relaxing.
A a music-lover and Friend of Radio Three, but with a plethora a alternatives available, I feel I have never had it so good.
I am very grateful to these CE threads for the insights into this music which it affords to a non-expert like me, but I do find the atmosphere here somewhat rarefied and generally feel a bit like an eavesdropper with little to contribute. The negativity, not to say sourness, that seems to prevail here with reference to Radio 3 in general is for me somewhat off-putting and rather baffling. For example, comments above such as "most R3 programmes (they call them ‘shows’, for heaven’s sake!) are freighted with so much emetic – endless chattering frivolity, a cocktail-party ambience, grinding trail after grinding trail" are for me unfair, superficial and overstated. There might be some of that sort of stuff but there is mercifully little evidence of it between midday and 5pm. If there were, I would probably not be listening. I have been listening to Radio 3 for well over 50 years and agree that some recent trends are unwelcome, but do not expect everyone to share my preferences in presentation style. A very good friend of mine loves the morning programmes. I tend not to tune in before mid-day, but still find plenty to relish on the Radio 3 schedule. If it doesn't appeal, I play recorded music or listen to internet stations of which there are many excellent ones (including MDR Klassik from Leipzig, just for old times' sake). I have recently taken the plunge and subscribed to Spotify. I really appreciate the lunchtime concerts, being a Lieder fanatic and lover of chamber music. I mostly enjoy Composer of the Week and will usually take in the afternoon concerts, often on headphones in the garden whilst pruning or pottering or just sitting down and relaxing.
A a music-lover and Friend of Radio Three, but with a plethora a alternatives available, I feel I have never had it so good.
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