Review of Radio 3

[Richard Tarleton]

you never see job adverts for Grandees, do you?

perhaps they are in the Times, or somewhere.

Edit: perhaps the FoR3 Forum should have some grandees.
I think it would add something.

I think it just means someone really worth quoting but who prefers to remain anonymous. This Forum is full of grandees!

[Padraig]

Edit: perhaps the FoR3 Forum should have some grandees.

tut tut ts.

[teamsaint]

tut tut ts.

<completelyinnocentsmileything>................... .

[Stanley Stewart]

Radio 3 commendation

Gratified to see a two- page spread in today's Sunday Times, Culture magazine (30 Nov) with a headline 'The greatest station on air' and sub-headed 'Will the new boss take on Classic FM? Writer, Bryan Appleyard seriously hopes he doesn't.

Appleyard is aware of the pressures which new controller, Alan Davey will face and deprecates the recent stance taken by Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey and Labour's Tom Watson as 'cheap populism' by kicking R3 when it was down. However, he sees all this as plain sailing alongside the rows and identity crises since the Third Programme was founded in 1946. Quoting numbers and statistics is irrelevant to R3 he adds because it is just not a radio station, it is an extraordinary successful patron of the arts. Discussing the BBC Royal charter renewal in 1916 - in essence the corporation's constitution - he mentions how the BBC must balance high Reithian moral purpose with the equally moral purpose to serve all the people.

It seems that pressure groups, Friends of Radio 3, are enthusiastic about Davey's appointment as he will bring intellectual weight to the job. It is rumoured that Davey dislikes the morning -show style in which tweets are read out and requests taken! Hard core supporters want less of this and more careful curation. Many of us wait in eager anticipation.

Further,Paul Donovan's Radio column, 1/3rd of a page across five columns, in the magazine, is given over to next Saturday's (6 Dec) broadcast of Jazz Record Requests, a 50th anniversary celebration; the programme started on Dec 12, 1964, presented by Humphrey Lyttelton. Alyn Shipton will host the special birthday edition, 17.00hrs. A truly happy hour!

[amateur51]

Gratified to see a two- page spread in today's Sunday Times, Culture magazine (30 Nov) with a headline 'The greatest station on air' and sub-headed 'Will the new boss take on Classic FM? Writer, Bryan Appleyard seriously hopes he doesn't.

Appleyard is aware of the pressures which new controller, Alan Davey will face and deprecates the recent stance taken by Culture Minister, Ed Vaizey and Labour's Tom Watson as 'cheap populism' by kicking R3 when it was down. However, he sees all this as plain sailing alongside the rows and identity crises since the Third Programme was founded in 1946. Quoting numbers and statistics is irrelevant to R3 he adds because it is just not a radio station, it is an extraordinary successful patron of the arts. Discussing the BBC Royal charter renewal in 1916 - in essence the corporation's constitution - he mentions how the BBC must balance high Reithian moral purpose with the equally moral purpose to serve all the people.

It seems that pressure groups, Friends of Radio 3, are enthusiastic about Davey's appointment as he will bring intellectual weight to the job. It is rumoured that Davey dislikes the morning -show style in which tweets are read out and requests taken! Hard core supporters want less of this and more careful curation. Many of us wait in eager anticipation.

Further,Paul Donovan's Radio column, 1/3rd of a page across five columns, in the magazine, is given over to next Saturday's (6 Dec) broadcast of Jazz Record Requests, a 50th anniversary celebration; the programme started on Dec 12, 1964, presented by Humphrey Lyttelton. Alyn Shipton will host the special birthday edition, 17.00hrs. A truly happy hour!

Many thanks for this report, Stanley Stewart

[Richard Tarleton]

See also this thread from here, Stanley

[french frank]

Shall I tack this on to the other? Stanley adds a lot about the content.

[JFLL]

you never see job adverts for Grandees, do you?

perhaps they are in the Times, or somewhere.

I always imagine a grandee smoking a cigar to the strains of Bach's Air on a G-string.

[Quarky]

Shall I tack this on to the other? Stanley adds a lot about the content.

yes please - an even more detailed resume would be appreciated, as I have left it too late to buy the paper.

[Sydney Grew]

He did indeed! He asked what I thought about A. Davey's appointment - and I was enthusiastic (I thought he sounded incredulous - Wh-y-y-y-y?) . Anyone who professes an interest in medieval literature, Macs and cultural theory must, in my view, be all right

I think another essential qualification is that the candidate does not lick his or her finger when turning a page. Give them something to read, tightly bound, and observe.

And yet another essential qualification is: do they know the correct way to address the recipient of a simple letter?

[Sydney Grew]

. . . Jazz Record Requests, a 50th anniversary celebration; the programme started on Dec 12, 1964, presented by Humphrey Lyttelton. Alyn Shipton will host the special birthday edition, 17.00hrs. A truly happy hour!

Joy was not unconfined in 1964 Mr. Stewart. I have always remembered it as a day of shame.

[french frank]

Joy was not unconfined in 1964 Mr. Stewart. I have always regarded it as a day of shame.

I think in future, Mr Grew (if I may) there is a possibility that you will have to grind your teeth in outer darkness.

Also, I can confirm that he definitely does lick both finger and thumb before wrinkling up the corner in a most untidy fashion. Although I have not had a formal postal communication, his normal greeting appears to be:"Hi,there, Frankie boy. What gives, huh?"

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

December 12 1964 was a day of rejoicing in dis jazbo's 'bode ..... and 50 years on one just feels, well, old! ... and surprised that the time has passed, and that despite one's best efforts to the contrary end, one is still alive and listening ....

it is not the 'demo' that the Third Programme, including Jazz Record Requests, addressed but the Muses ... one hopes Mr Davey will aspire to serve the Muses again and let the listeners take it from there ...

[Stanley Stewart]

# 14 Thank you, Mr Grew. The arrival of December, Advent and, the prospect of my 84th birthday, later next month, finds me in positive vein!

"O Divine music, Renew our hearts." King Priam

Contrasted programmes this week but eager to hear the 50th anniversary of Jazz Record Requests on Saturday (6 Dec) with Duke Ellington, JJ Johnson, Billie Holiday, the Alabama Stompers and the New Orleans Wanderers playing Perdido Street Blues; as Humphrey Lyttelton said at the start, 'Jazz is the only music that appeals simultaneously to the heart, the head and the feet'. My warm-up preparations include Jazz, The Smithsonian 6CD anthology, which is well placed for easy reach.

This dazzling set has also been complemented by a further 6CD collection, Cafe Zimmerman play Johann Sebastian Bach, Concerts avec plusieurs instruments, - unalloyed joy.

The spoken word represented by a recording of Eliot's Four Quartets, R4, 14 Jan, 2014, by Jeremy Irons, a fine addition to my collection, a reading whose pauses, inflections and subtle changes in speed and tone are spot-on. The meaning and music exemplify Burnt Norton, East Coker, The Dry Salvages and Little Gidding. Helpful introduction by Michael Symmons Roberts, David Alton and Gail McDonald.