View Full Version : The way forward for Radio 3 and Sunday Mornings?
Fellow R3 fans,
I'm doing some research on Radio 3 listeners listening habits, and am particular interested in your feelings about the Sunday Morning show. I've had a read through the various discussion threads which are very useful but if you'd be up for providing a bit more info about your own preferences it would be much appreciated! Things I'm interested are as follows,
When you listen and what you are doing while you listen?
What music you like to hear - era/composer, familiar or unfamiliar, vintage recordings/ new releases etc.
How much info like to be given about a piece, and what information - biographical/ analytical/ anecdotal?
Do you like the Sunday morning presenters and their style and why?
Do you like the music played on Sunday morning and why?
Do you like the innocent ear challenge, and interactive quizes in general?
Do you ever write/text in?
Do you like to hear other listeners comments and anecdotes?
Either respond on this thread, send me a message, or give me a call on 020 7250 5500 (and ask for Laura) today (6th Jan) or Monday 9th 2pm-6pm, or Tuesday 10th 10am-6pm.
Hullo Laura,
Although this is a very friendly forum I'm not sure it's wise to publicise your telephone number? Are you undertaking the research for a particular project to do with your studies?
Paul Sherratt
06-01-12, 15:56
Don't worry about Laura, Anna. I bet she works ( as an intern ? ) for some radio production company who might be thinking about pitching or honing the perfick sunday show
to the bbc which will satisfy or attract that threatened species, the radio 3 listener.
:smiley:
Thanks Anna, don't worry it's not a home phone number! The research is part of an internship I'm doing for a production Company who are thinking about a putting together a proposal for a new improved Sunday Morning show, so all help would not only be greatly appreciated by me but may also help shape the future of the program!
Laura
OK Laura, and Paul, was just thinking of internet safety. Cannot help I'm afraid, never around to listen to R3 on Sunday mornings! I hope you get some helpful replies.
ferneyhoughgeliebte
06-01-12, 16:06
Good luck with that, Anna!
I stopped regularly listening to Morning programmes nearly two years ago. To win me back, the programme would have no "chat", no "guest of the week", no quiz, no "let's see what's in the papers today" and no "audience participation". Instead it would seek to include a wide range (in duration, familiarity and styles) of Music presented with just enough background information to put the works and their performances into focus.
Not too much to ask?
Ha, wow, good guess! I do feel a bit bad exploiting (?) this nice friendly forum but as you guys really care about the station and have lots of opinions, I hoped you wouldn't mind! It might help shape the future of R3 broadcasts/ help us preserve what you love about the station!
ferneyhoughgeliebte
06-01-12, 16:13
well no harm in asking!
:biggrin:
... just as long as it's not "no point in asking"!
:biggrin:
... just as long as it's not "no point in asking"!
Well as Paul has already pointed out I'm fairly low in the pecking order of things here, but I shall certainly be passing your views up the chain!
Are we allowed to ask where this production company stands in relation to Radio3 or for that matter BBC? If it currently has no working contact with Radio3, what makes the company think R3's Sunday morning programmes needs improving?
[ed] Are you a R3 listener by any chance? If you are not, I doubt if the members’ answers will make much sense.
Don Petter
06-01-12, 16:23
I stopped regularly listening to Morning programmes nearly two years ago. To win me back, the programme would have no "chat", no "guest of the week", no quiz, no "let's see what's in the papers today" and no "audience participation". Instead it would seek to include a wide range (in duration, familiarity and styles) of Music presented with just enough background information to put the works and their performances into focus.
fhg has saved me a lot of typing! I agree completely with the above (except that I rather think it is longer than two years in my case).
I would only add 'and don't tell me every time, after an item, how wonderful the performance was - I'll be the judge of that, thank you!'.
Well, actually, generally speaking, I loathe the Sunday morning mix and I find myself trying it most weeks and then switching to BR Klassik or WQXR.
Far and away my preference would be to transfer the post-CDR talk slot to SUNDAY a.m. when I actually do have a chance to sit and listen to intelligent music chat. Extend CDR to play the chosen BAL piece up to lunch time on SATURDAY when I can hear it while doing other things, and not on Monday c11 30 when there is not a chance in hell I can hear it - so total waste of network time and reviewer's golden words IMV, but there you go, what do I know.
Private Passions has become a joke.
Norfolk Born
06-01-12, 16:36
1200-1300: Private Passions - that's it (and that's not strictly morning)
Good luck - but don't hold your breath!
One more question: improvement from whose point? Those who listen to Radio3 while they do something else as in your question1?
Bax-of-Delights
06-01-12, 17:24
I'd second ferneyhoughgeliebte's reply.
NO texting
NO emailing
NO listener participation
NO news/newspapers/waffle/blether/jokey banter
Music that is diverse and which does NOT consist of the 100 Best Tunes currently aired most mornings. Perhaps interspersed with poetry (as in Words and Music).
But of course we had all that in times gone by and my bet is the production company you are interning for doesn't have that kind of agenda or mindset.
The frightening part of all this is there should be any need for an outside production company to come up with an idea. If the suits at R3 had any idea of their audience as opposed to casting their thin nets ever wider in the hope of catching listeners - any listeners - while allowing their core audience (the BIG fish) to bust through the net and off to quieter waters they would have changed the format by now.
french frank
06-01-12, 17:49
Hello Laura! :smiley:
When you listen and what you are doing while you listen?
Since giving up on R3 as a routine of daily listening, I mainly listen on the iPlayer now, probably in the morning, possibly in the afternoon, rarely in the evening (except for a play). I will just be listening, probably with headphones, as it will be because the programme is something I have specially selected to listen to.
What music you like to hear - era/composer, familiar or unfamiliar, vintage recordings/ new releases etc.
A selection carefully chosen in an intelligent sequence by a knowledgeable producer and, over a period of time, covering most kinds of 'classical' music, all eras from medieval to contemporary. Unfamiliar works a particular attraction, overplayed warhorses would make me less inclined to listen at all. Emphasis on full length works, never single movements. In a 2-hour programme I would hope to hear about 6-9 works, including one or two short 'fillers'.
How much info like to be given about a piece, and what information - biographical/ analytical/ anecdotal?
If the programme is designed to be a music sequence, a few sentences of context: Composer, full title, (approx.) date of composition/publication; biographical if there is a known close link with the work; minimal analysis for this kind of programme - though it would be very welcome in other types of programme; anecdotal on the whole to be avoided because the same anecdotes tend to be dragged out time after time.
Do you like the Sunday morning presenters and their style and why?I don't 'like' presenters, full stop. Which doesn't mean I dislike them as people but I'm only interested in how well they present the music, getting the facts right and with a reasonable attempt at pronouncing foreign languages accurately. Giving an impression that what matters to them is the music (not the audience) and musically knowledgeable enough to dig out unfamilar facts which are relevant. Reading out bits of Wikipedia not good enough. Relaxed seriousness :smiley:
Do you like the music played on Sunday morning and why?
No comment. Gave up listening shortly after Sunday Morning first began (as Iain Burnside); too cluttered with extraneous matter; tiresome 'themes' and guests; presenter whimsy. If it's like what I described above I'd like it.
Do you like the innocent ear challenge, and interactive quizes in general?
In general, no, interactive quizzes or any sort of interactivity would probably put me off listening altogether :smiley:
Do you ever write/text in?
Haven't, wouldn't - unless I had a specific piece of information, relevant to the music (unlikely, actually), for which I would not need or expect to be invited to text in. I'd just do it off my own bat.
Do you like to hear other listeners comments and anecdotes?
No. A complete turn-off.
Are we allowed to ask where this production company stands in relation to Radio3 or for that matter BBC? If it currently has no working contact with Radio3, what makes the company think R3's Sunday morning programmes needs improving?
[ed] Are you a R3 listener by any chance? If you are not, I doubt if the members’ answers will make much sense.
I am indeed a radio 3 listener. If you don't think the Sunday morning program needs changin, I'm interested in hearing that too!
[QUOTE=DracoM;118631]Well, actually, generally speaking, I loathe the Sunday morning mix and I find myself trying it most weeks and then switching to BR Klassik or WQXR.]
would be great if you could expand - why you loath it/ what you'd like to hear - + some background on your listening habits/musical tastes...
french frank
06-01-12, 18:02
I forgot that Sunday Morning is now three hours long since the schedule changes. Not a production company's concern but, in my view, it's the kiss of death for Radio 3. Programmes which are that long encourage either dipping in and out, in which case there is no way to balance listening intelligently, or listening with half an ear while being only intermittently fully engaged with the music. Neither, in my view, is ideal.
Frances_iom
06-01-12, 22:35
another total negative - I keep my radio alarm still tuned to R3 - it has about 5 min to start a Bach piece otherwise switched off as soon as I can reach the switch.
I gave up on the Magazine format some years ago - a few times I've switched on and heard a few minutes before giving up on waffle etc and settling back to CD's - I used to look at schedule to see if worth listening to but find the vox-pop interaction waffle etc off putting - personally I'd prefer a few programmes with some definite focus eg if I knew that 10.30 on Sunday would be a chamber concert then I'd switch on for that without checking schedule in advance - in the pre Wright era we had interesting feature bits around 8am in which the musical heritage of various (mostly London based) churches of all faiths were illustrated and discussed - we also had the Bach cantata for that Sunday - again this could be at a fixed time and usually last about 20min so easy to fit in
Chris Newman
06-01-12, 23:08
Hi dilipa28,
Firstly, I wish to third or fourth the eloquent summary of Sunday Morning as put by ferneyhoughdeliebte. I listen to music because I want to hear it, usuallly at an established or convenient time. I do not wish to hear verbiage from guests and twaddle from listeners. I have become selective about the kind of things I wish to hear. I hate modern wallpaper sound whether music or speech. Radio 3 has shot itself in the foot with so much of its programming. Go to the Radio 3 Website, Radio Times and it is well nigh impossible to find out what is on and when. There are three composers mentioned in their publicity for this Sunday morning:
James Jolly presents three hours of great music, featuring the best recordings from the archive and the present day. Today with music by Szymanowski, Martinu and Finzi.
All three of them I like to hear. But what is the music being played? When is it being played? Who is playing it? I often go out on Sundays. If I do not know the basic facts about Radio 3s scheduling it is highly unlikely that a broadcast will keep me in, especially when the music is so lackadaisically and tawdrily presented. There might only be 5 minutes of Szymanowski. Am I going to sit around doing nothing for 175 minutes? You bet I am not. I have no objection to James Jolly and his knowledge and enthusiasm but I dislike the way he and other very professional people are being told to "sex up" the programmes. Sunday Morning is so direly publicised and eventually broadcast that I shall not even be bothered to listen on iPlayer. I refuse to be treated as some kind of sponge who'll absorb anything poured over it. I listen elsewhere on the Radio schedules if the information is given clearly. Tonight I am listening to records because I wish to hear certain music. Vague scheduling like that above is a huge turn-off for me.
BWS
Chris.
Panjandrum
07-01-12, 08:49
My blueprint for a Sunday morning show.
Publicise, as far as possible, the works to be played in advance on the website and other listings.
Play only full works (i.e. not "bleeding chunks" of multi-movement repertoire). Obtain a list of the 100 most played pieces on radio 3: do not play any of these.
Themed programmes are fine (e.g. seasonal; performer or composer related) but not essential
Extracts from complete works is permissible in the case of opera arias, choral movements, individual songs from song cycles, movements from suites (as opposed to symphonies). Single movements from symphonies, concertos, chamber works, and sonatas should be avoided at all costs, unless either: a, the complete work is extremely long (i.e. over 50 minutes); b) and/or the movement in question is over 15 minutes in duration. Some producer discretion is obviously required here, but the main point is that a strict preference for complete works is adhered to as far as possible.
There should be no reading out of texts, tweets, facebook posts etc, unless there is a clear musicological significance in so doing. Items of the kind of "Your Call" should be banished forthwith.
Music should be predominantly classical in nature (i.e. at least 90%). Musicals and other popular idioms (e.g. jazz, folk, country, world) should not be played, unless by a "recognised" classical composer (e.g. Bernstein's forays into musicals). The reason is that this mixing of musical genres does not work with this audience. There are also innumerable other radio channels dedicated to providing popular music in all its guises.
Presenters should be limited to announcing the music, with no extraneous waffle. No reading of papers, or news summaries (we can get this elsewhere thank you very much).
Any studio guests should be chosen with care and be solely from the classical music profession (eg composers, conductors, other musicians, occasionally musical administrators). Any subjects discussed with them should be musicological only (i.e. no chit chat).
Talk, in any case, should comprise less than 15% of the total programme running time.
Paul Sherratt
07-01-12, 09:24
>>There are also innumerable other radio channels dedicated to providing popular music in all its guises
One can't move for them, in fact :laugh:
Norfolk Born
07-01-12, 10:01
My (modest) revolutionary proposal for Sunday mornings:
(a) Introduce an item of music - possibly familiar, possibly less so - saying a few words about the chosen item, the circumstances surrounding its composition, the recording and the performance.
(b) Play the item in question (all of it).
(c) Repeat (a), but with a different item.
(d) Repeat (b), but with the item introduced under (c)
Hang on ...I realize I've just described TTN.
OK.....
Here's my revised (modest) revolutionary proposal for Sunday mornings:
Extend, or repeat, TTN until, say 12 noon.
Simples!
Hang on ...I realize I've just described TTN.
OK.....
Here's my revised (modest) revolutionary proposal for Sunday mornings:
Extend, or repeat, TTN until, say 12 noon.
Simples!
Come to that, why not extend/repea it from Sunday to Friday? Simple.
EdgeleyRob
07-01-12, 13:34
To win me back, the programme would have no "chat", no "guest of the week", no quiz, no "let's see what's in the papers today" and no "audience participation". Instead it would seek to include a wide range (in duration, familiarity and styles) of Music presented with just enough background information to put the works and their performances into focus.
Not too much to ask?
Agreed.
No tweets or twits.
I only tend to listen to Radio 3 on listen again these days (Evening,lunchtime concerts and TTN)
I only tend to listen to Radio 3 on listen again these days (Evening,lunchtime concerts and TTN)
Rob, that's pretty much what I listen to, plus CDR on a Saturday morning, CotW (sometimes) and Do3 (sometimes) on Sunday evening. Every morning other than Saturday is an opportunity to Listen again or listen to CDs.
And another plea for comprehensive playlists. I looked at the schedule for Sunday Morning, it said amongst others there would be works by Martinu and Finzi but nothing by them was listed at all, a mere 4 items by other composers were listed, totally frustrating and I therefore didn't bother to switch on.
french frank
08-01-12, 19:06
Can we keep this thread on topic (yes, I know it's not usual, but it will be easier for Laura to pick up answers to her queries if we keep to our opinions on the Sunday Morning programme).
[Diverted posts on On Playlists and Purchases (playlist programmes board].
amcluesent
09-01-12, 20:50
From 7am to 12noon, the Sunday broadcast should follow the 'Through the Night' approach of minimal blethering, in fact there would be no problem in having no announcements for 60+ mins at a time.
Breakdown the time as
7-8am Organ, viols, medieval music etc
8am-10:30am - Baroque and early classical works, emphasis on Bach family
10:30am-11am - church service, likely live relay from Lutheran churches across Europe, no happy-clappy, no RC
11am-12noon - classical/neo-classical, string Q, Haydn symphonies etc.
ferneyhoughgeliebte
09-01-12, 20:55
likely live relay from Lutheran churches across Europe, no happy-clappy, no RC
I think you might want to make clear that you mean "Rob Cowen", here, amclu!
... if, of course, you do! :yikes:
Norfolk Born
09-01-12, 22:33
..so Rob Cowan would be OK then! :smiley:
ferneyhoughgeliebte
10-01-12, 10:25
Yas!
PatrickMargison
10-01-12, 11:46
I’m new to this Forum (though not to Radio 3), so please forgive me if I repeat anything that’s already been said elsewhere on another strand. I listened to the last 'Sunday Morning' (January 8) and must admit to my relief at having a brief break from the ubiquitous Rob Cowan. I don’t dislike his style, though he does seem make rather a lot of stumbles and blunders, but I do get a little weary at the constant suggestion that everything was so much better in the 1950s and 60s – you do wonder whether he actually goes to concerts or engages with what’s going on TODAY in the live world. He certainly doesn’t give that impression. (Also, seven consecutive days, pre-Christmas, from him – CD Review, Sunday Morning and then five days of the execrable Essential Classics – was really a bit much.)
I was a great fan of the late-lamented Classical Collection – interesting music offered in thought-provoking and often rewarding performances. Last Sunday Morning seemed to capture something of CC’s spirit (not surprisingly as it was presented by James Jolly). We didn’t have any bleeding chunks (unless you count ‘Vltava’ as one), we had some rarely heard music (Szymanowski, Martinu, Rosenmüller and an intriguing transcription of the Bach Toccata and Fugue) and what a joy to hear Finzi’s lovely Clarinet Concerto. The links between pieces were kept short and relevant and we weren’t constantly assaulted by Tweets, Innocent Ear stuff and ‘interactivity’ (apart from a pretty discreet thread about Kiri Te Kanawa). And even the over-played Moonlight Sonata was given in a performance that had clearly been chosen with care (Pollini).
Reading some of the preceding threads does make me question whether followers of this topic actually listen to the radio as it’s surely supposed to be consumed – allowing serendipity to guide us down new alleys (I’d never heard the Martinu Overture or even heard OF Rosenmüller). If you want to look through a playlist and ‘programme’ your listening, then Spotify is surely the thing for you. And you won’t have any talk at all!
My feeling, for what it’s worth (and our opinions are being canvassed here) is that Sunday Morning works pretty well. Try and discourage RC from his constant fetish for opinions and feedback (I personally don’t give a stuff what Mrs Smith from Torquay thinks about the Four Seasons) and give us a classy menu with variety, depth and breadth. And maybe give JJ more than one show in a blue moon, as he seems to understand what a Sunday Morning’s supposed to be.
french frank
10-01-12, 12:43
Hello, Patrick - and welcome!
I'm not sure that your comments differ tremendously from the views expressed: it seems pretty well unanimous - so far - that 'interactivity isn't what people want and what they do want is what you describe as a 'classy menu with variety, depth and breadth'. The commissioning brief mentions 'a distinctive weekend feel' (I'm not quite sure what that is) but bringing in topical stories (for example) wouldn't be, I don't think, what people would appreciate.
More room for a variety of views when it comes to presenters' style. One person's most admired presenter is someone else's total turn-off. For Sundays, this is a key 3-hour slot and I think to keep listeners coming back presentation has to be very light, the focus on the music, with information also music-centred. If you do have the same presenter, week after week, I personally think that makes it more important for the production team to have a strong say in choice of works so that you don't get a 'same old, same old' impression with the choice being influenced by the presenter's likes and dislikes.
Suffolkcoastal
10-01-12, 13:47
Getting Sunday morning programming 'right' is particularly important in that Sunday evenings are music free zones on R3 except during the Proms and of course those of us who work are also more likely to tune in on a Sunday morning, especially if there isn't any music being broadcast during the evening.
It may be a good idea to make Sunday Morning clearly distinct from the busy weekday morning programme. I don’t think I need to give further details. :smiley:
[ed] To Laura: A lot about the weekday programme has been said on this thread but if you need more information/opinions about the programme, please see the Eternal Breakfast Debate thread on this board.
I agree with Dover, Sunday shouldn't be more of the same, weekdays are cloned, Sunday should be different. I wouldn't object to a short talk, as long as the subject was musical (say about ancient intruments like lyres or serpents! Or music in Ancient Greece, or about notation and scores) something informative. But no celebs, tweets or quizzes or gimmicks or themes.
Anna
Whadya think - back to Music Magazine?
Serial_Apologist
10-01-12, 17:43
I agree with Dover, Sunday shouldn't be more of the same, weekdays are cloned, Sunday should be different. I wouldn't object to a short talk, as long as the subject was musical (say about ancient intruments like lyres or serpents! Or music in Ancient Greece, or about notation and scores) something informative. But no celebs, tweets or quizzes or gimmicks or themes.
I say: bring back The Lord's Day Observance Society!
(No I don't really. Even so..............................................)
Anna
Whadya think - back to Music Magazine?
Draco, I've only been a R3 listener since about 2004, not sure if I know that at all?
... bring back Anna Instone and Julian Herbage! :whistle:
Norfolk Born
10-01-12, 17:50
...don't forget Alvar Lidell, John Snagge and Leslie Mitchell!
...don't forget Alvar Lidell, John Snagge and Leslie Mitchell!
Why not get Harry Enfield as Mr. Cholmondley? That would be quite hilarious to go back to stuffed shirt days. Wasn't Alvar Lidell a war correspondent? Oh, frenchie asked us to keep on topic ........
Serial_Apologist
10-01-12, 18:12
Why not get Harry Enfield as Mr. Cholmondley? That would be quite hilarious to go back to stuffed shirt days. Wasn't Alvar Lidell a war correspondent? Oh, frenchie asked us to keep on topic ........
Alvar Lidell was indeed a war correspondent in WW2; he always introduced R3 programmes with a superbly appropriate sense of gravitas to subject matter, Anna - something which has now completely gone. It is he who also read out the dictionary definition of whales in the introduction to John Tavener's "The Whale" in the recording made in 1968 or 1969 on the Beatles' Apple label.
Well, Alvar Lidell, John Snagge et al, before my day I'm afraid. Classical music doesn't have to be introduced with gravitas, merely with knowledge surely? Like TTN, one of my favourite programmes, announce it, give some info, listen. All that's needed.
Serial_Apologist
10-01-12, 18:28
Well, Alvar Lidell, John Snagge et al, before my day I'm afraid. Classical music doesn't have to be introduced with gravitas, merely with knowledge surely? Like TTN, one of my favourite programmes, announce it, give some info, listen. All that's needed.
I still think gravitas has its place. As GG will remind us it's all a matter of context. Presenters started getting into trouble when expected to introduce items in the following way, "And next, ladies and gentlemen, a recordng by Missippi Fat Cruddup singing, "Hey Lord gimme some of that jelly roll", ahem", so they went to the opposite extreme by taking on DJs from pirate radio stations, whose manner in some strange inversion of what is appropriate now extends to introducing classical pieces in ways that sometimes seem either designed to send them up or reveal no sense of irony in the presenter.
S_A, the R3 you have known in the past, I have never known. I do have Humphrey Carpenters's book about R3, but I think if it were stuffy presenters I wouldn't have listened in the first place. However, I do deplore this tweeting, emailing, interaction as being terribly, now what's the word, of yes, awful and also, condescending to the listener, because it makes the listener dependent upon the presenter to verify their taste in music. If that makes sense, plus the classical chart is pure nonsense, I don't buy anything on that hyped up list and I am not going to feel pressured to buy anything on it to keep up with others and be one of the masses.
Chris Newman
10-01-12, 18:52
I would love to have a programme like Music Magazine brought back. It was very instructive morning with half hours spent on particular composers, performers and works. If my memory is correct it included Antony Hopkins's Talking about Music, John Steane on the Singing Voice, deadly serious stuff from Hans Keller, hilarious stuff from Fritz Spiegel as well as complete works. Everything a magazine should be. The pattern for the morning was familiar so you could be selective if you so wished.
On the subject of "Gravitas": R3 had variety. There were the traditional announcers like Liddell and Snagge and there were lighter ones like John Holmstrom who was nicely naughty (not unlike John Sopel on the BBC TV News channel these days). But Holmstrom and Cormac Rigby always gave us a Schubert Song before the 7.30am News: ah, bliss!!!. As it ended it was my cue to run to the railway station to go to work in London.
PatrickMargison
10-01-12, 19:17
Since this thread has, it seems, gone seriously off course, may I join in and fly the flag for the incomparable Michael Oliver, a broadcaster of genius? His 'Music Weekly' was the gem of R3's week, and a real joy on a Sunday morning, and must have contributed immensely to many people's love of music. Dragging the topic back, the Sunday morning of the 1970s was magnificent: if I recall rightly, 10.30 Music Weekly, 11.30 a stunning bought-in orchestral concert recording (Chicago SO/Solti, say), 1pm a repeat of the previous Monday's St John's Lunchtime Concert (and then the 'cast list' was glittering)...
For what's it worth, I'd echo what's been said before. Keep the same selection of music but dump the guests, quizzes etc.
french frank
10-01-12, 20:00
Oh, frenchie asked us to keep on topic ........
To ask is not to get ...
I think if it were stuffy presenters I wouldn't have listened in the first place.Our views change. All BBC announcers seem 'stuffy' now when we hear recordings of the 50s, say. But back then they were just normal.
I don't think Radio 3 presenters have been 'stuffy' for decades, but that's just my view. People used to listening to other music stations may find them too 'formal' because they deal with serious subjects seriously, but, then, some people value style over content. Radio 3 is going that way. So, on topic: for Sunday Morning - content is still the most important thing (and James Jolly will continue to do 12 programmes a year and Rob will do the rest because that's what they've been contracted to do, apparently).
EdgeleyRob
10-01-12, 20:13
I don't think Radio 3 presenters have been 'stuffy' for decades, but that's just my view.
I've been listening to Radio 3 since the early 70s (aged 13/14) and don't recall thinking the presenters were stuffy, a bit formal maybe but that seemed to suit the programmes.
ferneyhoughgeliebte
10-01-12, 20:18
I've been listening to Radio 3 since the early 70s (aged 13/14) and don't recall thinking the presenters were stuffy, a bit formal maybe but that seemed to suit the programmes.
:ok: : my experience, too, Rob. And there was always a warmth to their presentation, too.
I think the change towards the present focus on the presenter as personality, with all kinds of extra-musical interactivity, really began back in the 1980s with John Drummond. I don't mean that he would have welcomed what we have now, or that he intended such a development, but that it was with him that there was a conscious change in the style of the presenters - he required a less 'stuffy' approach and presenters writing their own scripts. At that time there was still an overwhelming concentration on the content of programmes rather than style - in music programmes in playing the music with minimum introductory comment, in discussion or talk programmes - with people like Keller, Robert Simpson, Basil Dean, Michael Oliver etc - in the content of the discussion rather than the personalities of the participants (strong though the personalities sometimes were!). And in those talk or discussion programmes, it was the expertise of the participants that was valued and not their personality. Yet the increasing emphasis on presenter and guest personality, and on style relative to the content of the programme, was a feature of both Nicholas Kenyon's controllership and - to a much greater extent - the current one of Roger Wright. Now the content (the object) was not seen as sufficiently important in itself, it was more and more about the subject, the presenter who experiences the music and, priest-like, becomes an intermediary between music and listener. Everything is now much more personalised, so that it is the experience of the listener - both the presenter and the listener at home - that is as important as what is listened to, and therefore has to become part of the content. In this R3 is only reflecting trends elsewhere in broadcasting: on TV the presenter has become omni-present, always in frame, whether in news programme, documentary, visual arts programmes, science programme etc.
I hate this trend and would like to get back to concentrating on the original object, the content and make the presenter the peripheral figure s/he always should have been. I'd like that to happen with Sunday morning on R3, and indeed all the time on R3.
So, on topic: for Sunday Morning - content is still the most important thing (and James Jolly will continue to do 12 programmes a year and Rob will do the rest because that's what they've been contracted to do, apparently).Ah James Jolly - the Robert Peston of Radio 3, strange delivery without the subject expertise :erm:
Panjandrum
12-01-12, 10:11
For what's it worth, I'd echo what's been said before. Keep the same selection of music but dump the guests, quizzes etc.
I think we were saying that the selection of music should be broadened considerably: the current format is far too reliant on the 100 classical favourites CD. :yawn:
A wider selection of music would be good. Although last week we had Szymanowski, Martinu, Duparc and Rosenmuller(?). Not necessarily 100 Best Tunes material.
Well Laura, we’ve been pouring our hearts out for the last seven days. Has it been useful to you?
Remembering your post:
a production Company who are thinking about a putting together a proposal for a new improved Sunday Morning show, so all help would not only be greatly appreciated by me but may also help shape the future of the program!
Is there any chance of our hearing your comment on our comments? Have you any idea how your research might help to shape the future of the programme?
I don’t suppose you could tell us something about this production company’s view on the current programme?
Barbirollians
13-01-12, 14:25
I do think that Radio 3 listeners should appreciate that it must be in the remit of Radio 3 to widen the audience for serious classical music as much as it can and to attract new listeners and we cannot simply say well we would like complete works with no interruptions and announcers simply announcing them all the time .
As someone coming new to classical music in the mid 1980s the evening or afternoon concerts were what attracted me and then Record Review and then really informative programmes like Interpretations on Record .
Whenever I listened to Radio 3 in the day however outside those times much of the programming was dreary and inaccessible and a turn off for novice . Hence , my view is that innovations to attract new audiences should be welcomed but only if as was once said in another context they do not presume knowledge or insult the intelligence of listeners. It is the latter factor that i find so offensive about Breakfast and Essential Classics . Innovations like Your Call would be of interest if they had contributors with anything of interest to say - the reminiscences of someone who would like to hear a work by Tippett because she sang in the choir at the first performance is likely to be of interest - wanting to hear Rachmaninov because someone's husband proposed to her whilst they were playing a record of it is not !
I might be interested in the musical choices or influences of musicians in a slot like on Essential Classics but not in those of any old random celeb . As for Mystery Voices , silly quizzes and playing only movements - they really do insult the intelligence .
As for a sunday morning programme I should like something like music magazine described above and then say an hour slot at the end for an hour of music perhaps by an individual artist , or a lot say on a genre playing a complete work like " American symphonies since 1945 " or " forgotten favourites " showcasing works that were once immensely popular but have now fallen out of favour like Hiawatha or the Rustic Wedding Symphony
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.0 Copyright © 2013 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.