University Challenge

[Pabmusic]

Almost invariably any classical music question on UC asks no more than the name of the composer. I don't think that was always so.

[Vile Consort]

Heavens, did we all run classical record clubs when we were at school? I did, too!

I went back to a reunion of my old school last year. It was a grammar school in my day and is now an academy. I was staggered at the size of the music department. All the pupils are offered free musical tuition for their first two years (funded by donations by alumni). Some 40% of the year 11 pupils are taking GCSE music and their interest is mainly in "classical" music. There are five or six practice rooms; judging by the booking sheets, they are in constant use from 7 am until 6 pm*. Apparently there is no difficulty at all getting 700 kids to listen attentively to someone playing, for example, Chopin on the piano during assembly.

* When I wor a lad, I and one or sometimes two friends used to stay behind in the music room and listen to records or perform music until the caretakers came and threw us out at around 5.30. On two occasions, they forgot and locked us in!

[ardcarp]

I went back to a reunion of my old school last year. It was a grammar school in my day and is now an academy. I was staggered at the size of the music department. All the pupils are offered free musical tuition for their first two years (funded by donations by alumni). Some 40% of the year 11 pupils are taking GCSE music and their interest is mainly in "classical" music. There are five or six practice rooms; judging by the booking sheets, they are in constant use from 7 am until 6 pm*. Apparently there is no difficulty at all getting 700 kids to listen attentively to someone playing, for example, Chopin on the piano during assembly.

What a lucky school! It's the other way round with me, alas. I went to a school with all-singing, all-dancing music and an inspirational music teacher. My g-kids, unfortunately, get nothing like the musical opportunities at school that I did over 50 years ago. I suppose now, as then, what they call 'music provision' [yuk] is patchy and the luck of the draw.

[Nick Armstrong]

ROFL'd at the hapless student on University C. last night who thought up J.S. Bach's 'Absinthe Cantata' BWV 211!

[Mary Chambers]

ROFL'd at the hapless student on University C. last night who thought up J.S. Bach's 'Absinthe Cantata' BWV 211!

I don't think even the rather adorable Gabriel Trueblood could answer that one.

[Nick Armstrong]

I don't think even the rather adorable Gabriel Trueblood could answer that one.

The engagingly (and misleadingly) goofy-looking cove with the equally Hardyesque name of Ted Loveday was on fire in the final tonight....

So Cambridge lead the field in UC and Nobel prizes...

I suppose the river-based contest on Saturday must provide some sort of consolation for Oxfordians


.


[Editor's note: I've pulled together a couple of disparate threads on UC as they are worth consolidating I think]

[ardcarp]

G&C did brilliantly didn't they? I thought Jeremy and Will Self were slightly grudging in their praise, though, making comments about 'how the questions fell'. Rubbish! It was a star quality team and indeed Ted L was on fire.

[MrGongGong]

So (I think we have had this before?) why are Oxford and Cambridge allowed to enter multiple teams?
It really isn't true that all the intelligence of the young is at those two institutions.
(Leaving aside the fake MA nonsense for a moment)

[Nick Armstrong]

So (I think we have had this before?) why are Oxford and Cambridge allowed to enter multiple teams?
It really isn't true that all the intelligence of the young is at those two institutions.
(Leaving aside the fake MA nonsense for a moment)

An interesting Thatcher-like use of the royal 'we', 2Gongs...

... you have had this before, indeed:

some Universities are allowed to enter multiple teams on University Challenge (and give out fake MA's)

I don't know why that is.

[Barbirollians]

Those teams tonight looked less representative of the generality of the university population than ever before . It was rather depressing - Classics are not generally taught in state schools or Latin and Greek and hence unless one had been to a public school , which by the look and sound of them the vast majority of both of those teams had , there was little chance of being able to answer many of those questions . The question setters need to address this .

Frankly, it is a dire , elitist ( in the bad sense ) programme that should have been laid to rest when Bamber G retired .

[Beef Oven!]

It's not supposed to be representative of the ''generality of the university population'' (whatever that means). With about 50% of our teenagers going to university these days, the brainiest kids will be different from the rest. Don't expect the final to be Royal Luton University v Tottenham Night school (despite the dumbing down of the questions).

Hurrah for elitists, yah boo for tall poppy misery-guts.

[Dave2002]

Frankly, it is a dire , elitist ( in the bad sense ) programme that should have been laid to rest when Bamber G retired .

So what's wrong with a bit of elitism? I don't know how popular this programme is - probably not as popular as Top Gear. There are many other programmes which are popular which could also be described as dire.

It is not compulsory to watch it anyway.

[Pabmusic]

So (I think we have had this before?) why are Oxford and Cambridge allowed to enter multiple teams?
...

The colleges are independent of each other, each with its own tutoring/lecturing staff. To read classics at Baliol means to have different tutors than for the similar course next door at Trinity. (There are nowadays some shared facilities, particularly in science, owned by the university itself.) The University awards the degrees.

For many years the Welsh colleges were part of the now-defunct University of Wales, which operated a similar system. I suspect few argued that Aberystwith and UC Cardiff should not be able to compete because they were part of the same university.

[MrGongGong]

The colleges are independent of each other, each with its own tutoring/lecturing staff. To read classics at Baliol means to have different tutors than for the similar course next door at Trinity. (There are nowadays some shared facilities, particularly in science, owned by the university itself.) The University awards the degrees.
.

OK

But that's not really the answer to the question.

Cambridge (for example) IS divided into departments

https://map.cam.ac.uk/directory/

It has one music department (for example) and IS a single institution in reality.
Many other Universities are amalgamations of multiple institutes and other establishments.

[vinteuil]

I suppose the river-based contest on Saturday must provide some sort of consolation for Oxfordians...

... I am so sorry, Caliban - I did not realize that the four-nil thrashing had hurt so much...

.