2012 Survey of classical music broadcast on Radio 3 - The Results

Collapse

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    2012 Survey of classical music broadcast on Radio 3 - The Results

    A Happy New Year to all fellow MBs. Welcome to my 4th Annual Survey of Classical Music on Radio 3 outlining the music broadcast in 2012

    As I’ve had a fair bit of time on my hands today and was updating the totals everyday during the last 2 weeks with the help of the iplayer, I’ve managed to compile the results more quickly than usual

    For those who weren’t familiar with the survey methods outlined I’ve used here please see the brief resume I prepared in my posting on these Boards at the beginning of January 2011.

    Overall Observations
    That Schubertfest has naturally skewered the figures this year. So I’ve removed the Schubert works/extracts c1200! that were broadcast during the ‘fest’ from Schubert’s overall total and the total Schubert symphonies broadcast. Thus the survey this year is over 357.5 days. This accounts for 2.3% of the year. This and the Mozartfest in 2011 should be taken into account in the overall results for each composer.

    1. Anniversary composers
    An excellent year for Debussy, and to a lesser extent Delius and Giovanni Gabrieli, though with the exception of a broadcast of A Village Romeo & Juliet, the amount of Delius nosedived in the last 3 or so months of the year. In typical current R3 fashion the other anniversary composers were treated with less or minimal interest.

    2. General observations
    The composers who seem to have done well are those who wrote a fair number of short works and/or whose music can be easily cut into chunks (surprise, surprise!). After a decline in 2011, Early Music bounced back, though the strange decline in the amount of Monteverdi broadcast continued (even SMP who used to feature it regularly on Breakfast no longer does so with such frequency, is she under orders?) The narrowing of repertoire towards the mainstream composers seems to be continuing. Many composers are represented by a small proportion of their output for example: Over 36% of the Holst broadcast consists of The Planets. Over 60% of the Bernstein consists of either extracts from West Side Story or Candide. Romeo & Juliet and the Classical Symphony account for 27% of the Prokofiev. The majority of the Parry is either I was Glad, Jerusalem or chunks from the Songs of Farewell. All the Wiren except one consists of a chunk from or the complete Serenade for Strings. British music is still very much hit and miss. Elgar and Britten did particularly well, but much of their total consists of the ‘lighter’ side or better known works. RVW had a better year but his large choral works are still largely ignored. Poor Arnold seems to have been relegated to the role of ‘light’ side. Some British composers remained in the doldrums, Rubbra, Rawsthorne, Tippett, Simpson, though Tippett improved marginally it was his accessible works that were almost exclusively featured. Scandinavian music is still dominated by the big 3, though with a decline for both Sibelius & Grieg American classical music had yet another poor year, with the its music being represented by an increasingly smaller number of composers and works. As reported last year composers such as Hindemith, Henze, Honegger, Rihm, Penderecki, Sessions, Carter, Tippett & Milhaud continue to do poorly or are ignored altogether, Henze and Carter’s deaths produced only a small handful of works in tribute, and if they hadn’t have died, the amount of works broadcast by them wouldn’t have reached 5! The Stravinsky case highlighted last year was still true, with a further slight decline and a tendency to concentrate on the well known works, but with anything post 1951 being virtually ignored.

    3. Composers ignored by R3 in 2012
    These included composers such as: Atterberg, Eisler, Roy Harris, K A Hartmann, Kirchner, Kokkonen, Krommer, Lachner, Ohana, Petrassi, Rouse, Rosenberg (no single work or extract of one of Sweden’s greatest composers has been played in the 4 years of my survey), Robert Simpson, Toch & Williamson.

    4. Popular Repertoire Increase
    This worrying continuing trend continued in 2012. Around 2/3rds of the warhorses did even better this year. Top of the list were the 93 Slavonic Dances and 93 Debussy Preludes, with considerable increases for Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G & La Valse, Debussy Prelude de l’apres midi d’un faune’, The Planets, Espana, the Hebrides and Egmont Overtures and Schubert Impromptu’s (not counting the Schubertfest!)

    5. The Symphony
    I decided to continue to monitor the number of complete symphonies broadcast, as this shows quite well the shift from playing complete works to bleeding chunks. There were a total of 1091 complete symphonies broadcast down 40 on last year, which represents just 3.0% of the total classical works/extracts broadcast. Once again a fair proportion is made up of shorter 18th century works. Below is a list of the composers who had 10 or more complete symphonies/sinfoniettas/sinfonias broadcast in 2012.

    F J HAYDN 103
    MOZART W A 101
    BEETHOVEN 77
    SIBELIUS 55
    MENDELSSOHN 45
    TCHAIKOVSKY 44
    SCHUBERT 40
    DVORAK 37
    PROKOFIEV 33
    VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 30
    SCHUMANN 29
    BRAHMS 27
    BRUCKNER 27
    MAHLER 27
    SHOSTAKOVICH 27
    BACH CPE 18
    ABEL 16
    STRAVINSKY 12
    ELGAR 11
    NIELSEN 11
    RACHMANINOV 11

    The Mendelssohn now includes the String Symphonies, though there weren’t many of them broadcast. A couple of notable composers who didn’t have any complete symphonies broadcast include Arnold, Harris, Roussel, Rubbra, R Simpson & Tippett The Schubert total does not include the Schubertfest.

    6. The Results*
    There were over 36,000 works/extracts performed in 2011, including the Schubertfest (a 10% increase on 2011) by over 2250 composers which is slightly more than in 2011. There were around 410 composers who featured in 2012 that didn’t feature in 2009-11 and around 1900 composers who featured in 2009-11 that didn’t feature in 2012. However over 950 of the composers featured in 2012 are represented by one extract/work only (up on previous years) and only a little over 370 composers had more than 10 works/extracts broadcast (slightly up on 2011). The amount of non-classical music broadcast in programmes that are mainly considered to be classical was up on last year, with a notable increase in ‘traditional’ music.
    *The results do not include regular jazz or world music programmes, though I include the ‘classical’ music pieces featured in ‘Late Junction’, the proportion of which has remained fairly constant.
    There were 56 composers who had over 100 works/extracts broadcast on R3 in 2011, slightly down on 2011 but roughly on a par with 2009-10. These are listed below in descending order with the 2010/11 positions and the % increase or decrease compared to 2010 and 2011 indicated (the minus indicates a percentage decrease). The figures for Schubert do not include the nearly 1200 works/extracts played during the Schubertfest and as mentioned above 3% of normal R3 broadcast time was lost to the ‘fest’ .

    Continued in posting below ......

    #2
    Continued from above posting ......

    7. Overall results
    The figures show 2012 position, composer, 2012 total, 2010 position, 2011 position and the % difference from 2010 & 2011 in that order.

    1 BACH J S 1430+ 1 2 -0.21% +10.33%
    2 MOZART W A 1370+ 2 1 -0.20% -1.57%
    3 BEETHOVEN 1080+ 3 3 +11.80% +0.37%
    4 SCHUBERT* 960+ 4 4 +1.80% +3.11%
    5 CHOPIN 770+ 5 9 -14.10% +15.70%
    6 BRAHMS 765+ 8 5 +8.18% -0.78%
    7 HANDEL 720+ 6 6 -3.99% -0.55%
    8 DEBUSSY 660+ 12 14 +30.37% +34.90%
    9 HAYDN F J 650+ 9 8 +3.65% +6.86%
    10 MENDELSSOHN 560+ 13 15 +25.45% +17.82%
    11 SCHUMANN R 545+ 7 12 -23.60% +5.80%
    12 DVORAK 505+ 11 10 0.00% -2.87%
    13 TCHAIKOVSKY 500+ 10 13 -2.33% +1.00%
    14 LISZT 485+ 17 9 +44.94% -20.03%
    15 VIVALDI 465+ 14 11 +7.36% -10.02%
    16 RAVEL 450+ 15 16 +3.92% +8.15%
    17 ELGAR 400+ 25 22 +49.81% +27.53%
    18 BRITTEN 375+ 19 18 +24.83% +15.64%
    19 GRIEG 370+ 24 19 +35.53% +14.55%
    20 RACHMANINOV 325+ 23 17 +16.79% -1.21%
    21 STRAUSS R 310+ 16 20 -17.89% -3.11%
    22 SIBELIUS 295+ 18 21 -9.76% -6.62%
    23 VAUGHAN WILLIAMS 290+ 28 25 +16.67% +21.99%
    24 SHOSTAKOVICH 280+ 32 29 +20.51% +23.14%
    25 FAURE 275+ 34 30 +25.91% +25.91%
    26 PROKOFIEV 265+ 31 26 +10.74% +11.67%
    27 SAINT-SAENS 250+ 35 24 +23.41% -5.24%
    28 WAGNER R 240+ 21 34 -16.72% +13.62%
    29 PURCELL H 240+ 20 23 -18.52% -17.69%
    30 TELEMANN 225+ 26 35 -12.06% +8.13%
    31 VERDI 210+ 29 27 -13.99% -11.44%
    32 STRAVINSKY 200+ 27 33 -19.37% -4.28%
    33 BERLIOZ 200+ 36 37 -0.49% +13.48%
    34 POULENC 190+ 41 52 +30.41% +60.83%
    35 DELIUS 175+ 60 61 +96.67% +103.45%
    36 ROSSINI 175+ 33 32 -20.81% -18.22%
    37 STRAUSS J II 165+ 42 40 +20.86% +2.44%
    38 GERSHWIN 165+ 38 36 -6.21% -11.23%
    39 MAHLER G 165+ 22 28 -41.90% -29.79%
    40 BYRD 160+ 37 54 -16.75% +41.37%
    41 WALTON 160+ 48 56 +33.88% +47.27%
    42 WEBER 155+ 47 39 +28.69% -8.72%
    43 BARTOK 150+ 39 41 -8.38% -2.61%
    44 SCARLATTI D 145+ 40 42 -3.95% -5.81%
    45 MONTEVERDI 140+ 30 38 -41.98% -18.02%
    46 BIZET 135+ 52 55 +22.73% +22.73%
    47 HOLST G 135+ 56 46 +36.36% -4.26%
    48 PUCCINI 130+ 49 47 +10.83% +3.91%
    49 RAMEAU 125+ 45 53 -2.34% +6.86%
    50 BACH C P E 120+ 46 43 -1.60% -19.61%
    51 BRUCKNER 120+ 62 49 +38.20% +0.82%
    52 RIMSKY KORSAKOV 120+ 61 51 +35.95% -0.82%
    53 GABRIELI G 115+ 91 123 +98.31% +192.50%
    54 GRAINGER 115+ 55 31 +17.00% -46.33%
    55 SMETANA 110+ 51 45 -0.87% -20.28%
    56 DOWLAND 100+ 99 114 +87.04% +129.55%

    *Figure does not include Schubertfest.
    Please note that some composers had anniversary years in 2010/11 which resulted in a higher number of broadcasts.

    The statistics for composers who had been 50 and 99 works/chunks broadcast this year will follow shortly.

    Comment


      #3
      many thanks for this as always
      and new year greetings

      Comment


        #4
        A Herculean task that makes for eye-opening reading. Many thanks. I take my pith off to you, sir!

        Comment


          #5
          Please find below the figures for composers who had between 50 & 99 works/chunks broadcast this year.
          Any further questions, please feel free to ask and I’ll try and answer them if I have the information.
          JANACEK 95+
          BERNSTEIN L 90+
          COPLAND 90+
          NIELSEN C 90+
          GLAZUNOV 90+
          WOLF H 85+
          CAGE 85+
          BARBER 85+
          PARRY H 85+
          FALLA 80+
          PAGANINI 80+
          MUSSORGSKY 80+
          RESPIGHI 80+
          ALBENIZ 75+
          FRANCK C 75+
          BRIDGE 75+
          PART 75+
          KREISLER 70+
          BORODIN 70+
          KODALY 70+
          COUPERIN F 65+
          KORNGOLD 65+
          SUK 66+
          ARNOLD 65+
          BOCCHERINI 65+
          FINZI 65+
          GLINKA 65+
          OFFENBACH 65+
          GRANADOS 65+
          TALLIS 65+
          GLASS P 60+
          CHABRIER 60+
          PALESTRINA 60+
          SULLIVAN 60+
          IRELAND J 60+
          BRUCH 60+
          CORELLI 60+
          GLUCK 60+
          SCHOENBERG 60+
          VILLA LOBOS 60+
          ALBINONI 55+
          DELIBES 55+
          MARAIS 55+
          MARTINU 55+
          ADAMS J 50+
          GIBBONS O 50+
          LASSUS 50+
          MASSENET 50+
          NYMAN 50+
          SZYMANOWSKI 50+
          MESSIAEN 50+
          PIAZZOLLA 50+
          BUXTEHUDE 50+
          HUMMEL 50+
          KHACHATURIAN 50+
          SATIE 50+
          STANFORD 50+

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by MrGongGong View Post
            many thanks for this as always
            and new year greetings
            ..and the same from me, sc - a labour of love or you wouldn't do it. The symphony count is interesting - it may be an additional task but a breakdown of which symphonies would be interesting how many of the Mozart were from the last 6?

            Comment


              #7
              Most excellent as always SC.

              Does the 50-99 bods all having a + signify anything?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by antongould View Post
                Most excellent as always SC.
                I've missed the previous ones. What are they for?

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by antongould View Post
                  Most excellent as always SC.

                  Does the 50-99 bods all having a + signify anything?
                  I group the results by 5's, 90+ for example = 90-94. This is because of a possible small margin of error by around 0.50-1.00%. I get a little over 99% of the works/chunks broadcast during the year, but there are a handful that I probably miss.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Zucchini

                    The surveys for 2010 and 2011's are on these Boards, lateralthinking has provided a link to them on the 2013 Anniversaries thread. The 2009 was on the old R3 messageboards.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      This is a fantastic piece of work which deserves to be considered by the powers-that-be. I have a few questions.

                      1. Do you know whether anything similar is done by R3 or is the BBC haphazard?

                      2. Do you use a computer programme? Surely this isn't all done manually or is it?

                      3. Is COTW taken into account? I am surprised by the absence of Coleridge-Taylor.

                      4. Do you have a view of any correlation between the number of compositions produced by each composer and R3 coverage?

                      5. Why is R3 so bad on anniversaries and tributes which are surely among the best pegs? Does, say, NPR do better?

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by cloughie View Post
                        ..and the same from me, sc - a labour of love or you wouldn't do it. The symphony count is interesting - it may be an additional task but a breakdown of which symphonies would be interesting how many of the Mozart were from the last 6?
                        No I don't have those figures, though I could try and add them for 2013. When your checking through every few days the approximate numbers and other things do stick in my memory and I think the split between the 6 and earlier symphonies is about even. The earlier ones featured more often earlier in the year if I remember.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Lateralthinking1 View Post
                          This is a fantastic piece of work which deserves to be considered by the powers-that-be.
                          I agree,brilliant work sc.

                          Rawsthorne and Rubbra in the doldrums,shameful.

                          Where are Alkan and Alwyn ?. Off the radar no doubt.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by Lateralthinking1 View Post
                            This is a fantastic piece of work which deserves to be considered by the powers-that-be. I have a few questions.

                            1. Do you know whether anything similar is done by R3 or is the BBC haphazard?

                            2. Do you use a computer programme? Surely this isn't all done manually or is it?

                            3. Is COTW taken into account? I am surprised by the absence of Coleridge-Taylor.

                            4. Do you have a view of any correlation between the number of compositions produced by each composer and R3 coverage?

                            5. Why is R3 so bad on anniversaries and tributes which are surely among the best pegs? Does, say, NPR do better?
                            To answer your questions the best I can:

                            1. I'm not aware that R3 does anything similar itself, though I think there is a far amount of planning on roughly what proportion is given to the major composers, as their figures each year seem to be reasonable similar.
                            2.It is all done manually, though everything is input and calculated on spreadsheets.
                            3.COTW is taken into account but not its repeat on the same day. Coleridge-Taylor's figure was 34, his previous best from 2009-11 was 6!
                            4.No, that would be very difficult, but I do have one of those memories and when you are inputting every few days the repertoire broadcast of many of the composers stays in the memory, and I have a rough idea of the coverage of some of them, plus I make some notes which helps!
                            5. I think what is covered by anniversaries is based purely on the regime in charge and which composers are in and out of favour once you get away from the 'big guns'

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by EdgeleyRob View Post
                              I agree,brilliant work sc.

                              Rawsthorne and Rubbra in the doldrums,shameful.

                              Where are Alkan and Alwyn ?. Off the radar no doubt.
                              Rubbra =8 (that's actually his best showing since I started in 2009), Rawsthorne = 3, Alkan = 12, Alwyn = 16 (mainly thanks to TTN!)

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X