Prom 45 - 19.08.14: Laura Mvula, Metropole Orchestra / Buckley

[french frank]

It's the oft-mentioned "inverted snobbery", read commercialism, that excludes music from the classical tradition from stations featuring mainly pop music and its derivatives, that is so hypocritical. Were this to be an equal two-way street, everything wouild be fine, by me.

And yet, and yet - it was the BBC that decided that its radio stations should be 'generic' (cf the word 'genre'): young Charts pop music, older MOR pop, classical. And then expanded its music stations with 1Xtra, 6 Music and the Asian Network for three more 'distinct pop genres' - all of which, from time to time, can wander into Radio 3 on the grounds that there is an audience for such music.

The 'thinking' that a little bit of merging might lead people to classical music, as you say, doesn't work the other way to any useful extent.

[Radio 3 producers 'kept hearing'** [sic] classical music coming from Mary Anne Hobb's 6 Music studio, so invited her to come and play '6 Music music' on Radio 3. Why not invite Clemency Burton-Hill to 6 Music to play 'Radio 3 music'?

** NB When I read that, I checked the MAH playlists and found nothing to support the 'kept hearing' claim. Just a couple of pieces played in isolation. She crammed more 6 Music stuff into her two Radio 3 sessions than she ever seemed to play from the classical repertoire. So hypocrites, yes.]

[doversoul1]

Is it not really the time the BBC or Radio3 abandoned this ‘a little bit of merging might lead people to classical music’ nonsense? They could accuse Roger Wright and all would be well…

[Bryn]

And yet, and yet - it was the BBC that decided that its radio stations should be 'generic' (cf the word 'genre'): young Charts pop music, older MOR pop, classical. And then expanded its music stations with 1Xtra, 6 Music and the Asian Network for three more 'distinct pop genres' - all of which, from time to time, can wander into Radio 3 on the grounds that there is an audience for such music.

The 'thinking' that a little bit of merging might lead people to classical music, as you say, doesn't work the other way to any useful extent.

[Radio 3 producers 'kept hearing'** [sic] classical music coming from Mary Anne Hobb's 6 Music studio, so invited her to come and play '6 Music music' on Radio 3. Why not invite Clemency Burton-Hill to 6 Music to play 'Radio 3 music'?

** NB When I read that, I checked the MAH playlists and found nothing to support the 'kept hearing' claim. Just a couple of pieces played in isolation. She crammed more 6 Music stuff into her two Radio 3 sessions than she ever seemed to play from the classical repertoire. So hypocrites, yes.]

Ah, but the Proms are now "The BBC Proms", not "The BBC Radio 3 Proms". Why broadcast on Radio 3 the Proms which do not ideally fall within its genre classification, you may well ask? Well, for a start it would mean dropping the "every Prom broadcast on Radio 3" line.

[french frank]

Ah, but the Proms are now "The BBC Proms", not "The BBC Radio 3 Proms". Why broadcast on Radio 3 the Proms which do not ideally fall within its genre classification, you may well ask? Well, for a start it would mean dropping the "every Prom broadcast on Radio 3" line.

I still can't quite believe I really heard a trail on Breakfast to the effect: "Frequently Asked Questions [sic ]: Can you hear every Prom live on Radio 3? Yes ... &c &c"

How many listeners to Radio 3 can be unaware that Radio 3 broadcasts every Prom live (on Radio 3, I presume)? So many, in fact, that they are frequently asking the question in pubs, clubs and concert halls up and down the country.

[bluestateprommer]

OK, back to the music, sort of.....

I simply approached this Prom in more of a "Boston Pops" mindset, and not expecting anything more than a crossover kind of concert. (Full disclosure: I am not at all familiar with Laura Mvula's music.) This Prom was very much a tale of two halves, with the first part (more than half, it seemed) very mellow and slower in pace and mood. I thought it was too same-y in mood, to be honest. Now, I have once seen Esperanza Spaulding, and she is a splendid jazz bassist, which made it a bit disappointing that she didn't get a whole lot to do here, in terms of strutting her stuff. Admittedly, she is a guest artist and not the featured performer. However, the final 20 minutes / 4-5 songs were a lot more energetic, and thus a lot more fun to listen to.

Now, some random thoughts from a quite semi-ignorant American more on the socio-economic-political side of what might have gone into this thinking of why this particular Prom was put together. INPO:

1. People may remember last year that there were a lot of collaborations between divisions of BBC Radio that were new to The Proms. One (i.e. me) can speculate this as Roger Wright trying to steer internal politics in the light of overall budget worries and potential austerity, depending on what happens down the line with BBC funding and the license fee (about which I admit my ignorance; I'll get on wikipedia later). In other words, maybe RW had to make sure that R3 was seen as "playing well with others", and not existing in its own bubble that doesn't care what all the other networks are doing, in doing all the collaborative outreach to work with other divisions, e.g. co-broadcasting on BBC2, working with 6 Music, or making sure that transmissions also went to the BBC network in India (for the Prom last year with music by the Indian composer, for example).

It would be nice if the entire UK BBC radio audience were well-educated folks well versed in classical music from all eras, who recognize Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 as well as the 5th and the 9th, who can tell you their favorite recording of Mozart string quartets off the bat, and who can share impressions of hearing music of Nicola LeFanu, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, John Woolrich, Judith Weir, James MacMillan, or Sally Beamish at the last concerts they attended. I exaggerate to make a point, to be sure. (No comparable radio audience exists in the USA, to be sure, even in New York City, the city most likely to have such a demographic, by dint of Juilliard being there, not to mention various concert venues.) Maybe this kind of outreach isn't the best things to do. But it might have been worse, in terms of the top BBC management, not to make the effort. Again, I don't really know. I'm just guessing based on my experience of dealing with large bureaucracies in general, and the realities of diverse human cultural politics where not everybody is interested in (or likes) the same things. Classical music is not immune to either situation, of course.

2. Several years back, the Metropole Orchestra was one of the several music Radio Netherlands ensembles that the then newly installed right-wing Dutch government wanted to whack collectively by decimating their budget allocations:

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/public-and-musicians-fight-radio-orchestras-choir

The Dutch government had to walk that back partly after protests, but sadly still got a bit of that orchestra-killing done, as witness the loss of the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra last year, for one. So presumably Roger Wright might have had in mind the wish to invite the Metropole Orchestra not only on its own musical merits, but also as a gesture of support to a sister music ensemble in another country where the existence of said ensemble was threatened. According to the Metropole Orchestra's page, they started in 1945 at the behest of the Dutch royal family and government in exile. Fast forward 65+ years to a later Dutch government which was quite willing to throw them under the bus. It's interesting to read this bit from their page that solicits corporate partners:

"In 2012 due to economic constraints, we lost 50% of our government support. Going forward was going to be very challenging when one considers that before 2013, we were not allowed to engage in any business deals or commercial work. But entrepreneurs face challenges every day, and we are prepared to face the challenge head on, utilizing this opportunity to expand our reach."

It would be nice to have a world where musicians could worry only about the music, without "dumbing down" or having to "sell out" at times. That world obviously doesn't exist.