Wot no Early Music?

[AuntDaisy]

From a quick look at Andrew's excellent Proms listings.
Are the only Early Music Proms the "Proms at Londonderry: William Byrd" & "Proms at Aberystwyth" ones?
William Byrd, Thomas Morley Peter Philips, Thomas Tomkins, Thomas Weelkes with smatterings of Palestrina, Monteverdi, Luca Marenzio, Jacques Arcadelt & Orlando Gibbons.

What happened to Ockeghem, Obrecht, Josquin, Dufay, Lassus, Busnois, Victoria...
Or even Purcell, Couperin, Scarlatti, Gabrieli... A tad of Bach, Vivaldi & Handel doesn't go very far. If it ain't Baroque, fix it?

[Serial_Apologist]

[smittims]

I suspect early music doesn't fit into the new Controller's vision of the future of the Proms, unless it can be made 'more entertaining' (i.e. dumbed down) .

[AuntDaisy]

I suspect early music doesn't fit into the new Controller's vision of the future of the Proms, unless it can be made 'more entertaining' (i.e. dumbed down) .

Sadly, I think you're spot on.

[oddoneout]

I suspect early music doesn't fit into the new Controller's vision of the future of the Proms, unless it can be made 'more entertaining' (i.e. dumbed down) .

Are we any closer to knowing what the new chap is all about? Does he twit - I can't access such things so don't know. I saw a reference somewhere a couple of days ago about him being responsible for the R3 Proms advert carpetbombing campaign, which has done nothing to make me think positively about him. Don't R3 listeners, especially the longstanding and/or regulars, have enough to put up with already without the all too frequent aural assaults Service?
And yes I wasn't impressed with the reluctance to go back in time, not least as it's also been the case for most of the R3 evening concerts for too long as well.

[AuntDaisy]

Are we any closer to knowing what the new chap is all about? Does he twit - I can't access such things so don't know. I saw a reference somewhere a couple of days ago about him being responsible for the R3 Proms advert carpetbombing campaign, which has done nothing to make me think positively about him. Don't R3 listeners, especially the longstanding and/or regulars, have enough to put up with already without the all too frequent aural assaults Service?
And yes I wasn't impressed with the reluctance to go back in time, not least as it's also been the case for most of the R3 evening concerts for too long as well.

No idea what he's about.
He does twit https://twitter.com/classicjacko
Re. his recent article in The Times, several people complaining on Twitter about the choice of paywall-ed mouthpiece, others in support of his vision...

Here's a selection:

Sam Jackson @classicjacko
Grateful to @nfmusic @thetimes for the chance to outline my vision for @BBCRadio3 - and the future of classical music @BBC:

Laura Phillips @LauraPh222·Jul 18
What a shame this is behind a paywall. It would be so much appreciated if you could publish your thoughts in a place where we could all read them. Please think of doing so. Thank you.

Sam Jackson @classicjacko·Jul 18
Hi Laura - it’s in the Times newspaper today, in addition to this online article.

Laura Phillips @LauraPh222·Jul 18
Hi Sam. Thank you for responding. I think you will see from my tweets this morning, that I feel reluctant to go out+buy the Times or to encourage others to do so. I understand why this interview was necessary. I just wish your thoughts could be freely available on here elsewhere.

Jane Barrett@NewsEdJane·Jul 18
Great interview Sam. Very glad somebody with your passion and vision is in charge of the wonderful R3 - and classical music across the Beeb. Strength to you! So much that could be done. Vehemently agree with your point about knowing and serving your audiences.

Rowan Harwood @RowanHarwood·Jul 18
Radio 3 presenters don't patronise. They are knowledgeable, personable, and do an excellent job in my opinion @BBCRadio3

Isla Dowds-Skinner @Isla_Skinner·Jul 18
Lots that’s positive here Sam but please let’s never go back to when @BBCRadio3
was stern, unfriendly, inaccessible and elitist - what I grew up with - those attitudes became a barrier to the career in music i desired. Patronising no; accessible , warm, varied yes! #bbcr3

Margaret Casely-Hayford CBE @MCaselyHayford·Jul 18
Oh dear, pay wall. Will need to find a way to read this! Really looking forward! All the very best.

Dave @DaveWishingsky·Jul 18
Do you not think that your vision for @BBCRadio3 should be available on a @bbc free access site rather than behind a paywall?

ethany @CursoryB·Jul 19
Would love to read this, but unfortunately it's not freely available like Radio Three is! (Aligning with The Times isn't the best look.) I've been a fan of the station since my teens and hope to forget the blip when they recruited bemused ex-Radio One Gambaccini etc.

pillager @pillager·Jul 18
Your presenters don’t patronise, they know and love their music. Please don’t break it. The rest of the BBC has dumbed down astonishingly in recent years and become crude and boorish. We like @hannahcfrench @PetrocTrelawny @KateMolleson Sean Rafferty @elizabethalker @BBCRadio3

SWight @SQW103·Jul 18
Any chance of non Times readers seeing this important interview?

Sam Jackson @classicjacko·Jul 18
Hi there - it’s in the Times newspaper today, in addition to this online article.

Nick1792 @Picky_Nick·Jul 18
So we have to pay Murdoch to know what’s happening at Radio 3? Please find a way to make your thoughts freely available.

Sam Jackson@classicjacko·Jul 18
No, you don’t. The article is not behind a paywall this morning. Try this link, which should work:

Malcolm Smith@emptysmith·Jul 19
Can't get access, still paywall. Why on earth would you choose The Times?

Johnny Morris @johnnymorris321·Jul 18
"That the BBC Singers’ salaries, believed to be about £1.3 million a year, equate to less than Gary Lineker’s annual pay is not an argument Jackson is taking into the boardroom." Did you proof read that?

[oddoneout]

Oh dear...
Thank you for that selection Aunt D. Does he genuinely not understand why putting his "vision" behind a paywall is problematic?
I don't know what point he made regarding

knowing and serving your audiences

mentioned by one Jane Barrett but I think there are a few R3 listeners who might disagree about how well R3 is currently doing on that front. Mind you, doing a bit of digging I see that she is a news editor for Reuters and

has responsibility for new business

so perhaps has a different take on attempts to drag in new listeners?

[AuntDaisy]

Oh dear...
Thank you for that selection Aunt D. Does he genuinely not understand why putting his "vision" behind a paywall is problematic?

Yes, I agree. The paywall is a big problem & it sends out all the wrong signals - particularly when SJ then tries to wrongly convince people it is accessible!

Other than TTN & EMS (& the occasional Lunchtime concert) there's not much of the current R3 I listen to, I'm afraid.

[smittims]

Soundbites, of course , can be misleading. What does he mean by 'patronising'? It can mean different things. If it means telling us what to think then I think that applies to one or two current R3 presenters.

[french frank]

I suspect early music doesn't fit into the new Controller's vision of the future of the Proms

In fairness to Mr J, I think the Proms programme would have had to have been in place before he took over. It appears the then then partnership of Controller Davey and Director Pickard were not particularly enamoured of Early Music however. Between them they were after accessibility, diversity, universality, commonality and marketability. I'm not holding my breath for a change in policy, especially if he reads the replies to his tweets.

[AuntDaisy]

In fairness to Mr J, I think the Proms programme would have had to have been in place before he took over. It appears the then then partnership of Controller Davey and Director Pickard were not particularly enamoured of Early Music however. Between them they were after accessibility, diversity, universality, commonality and marketability. I'm not holding my breath for a change in policy, especially if he reads the replies to his tweets.

Good point, FF.
But, does he then not bask in the reflected Proms glory? And there's still the endlessly repetitive adverts for Proms / iPlayer / R1 / toothpaste on R3 to be complicit in.

[french frank]

Good point, FF.
But, does he then not bask in the reflected Proms glory? And there's still the endlessly repetitive adverts for Proms / iPlayer / R1 / toothpaste on R3 to be complicit in.

And it seems he was solely responsible for the day-long pre-Proms publicity blitz which no one had thought of doing before ….

[oddoneout]

And it seems he was solely responsible for the day-long pre-Proms publicity blitz which no one had thought of doing before ….

Wonder if it has been considered a success? I had the radio on as usual but gave up shortly after the 11 am changeover, for several reasons, and switched off for the rest of the day. Listened to the First Night when it was repeated on Monday.

[AuntDaisy]

And it seems he was solely responsible for the day-long pre-Proms publicity blitz which no one had thought of doing before ….

As Donald Tusk so eloquently said, there's a special place for solely responsible people...