Dumbing down
Dec 29, 2013 9:28:12 GMT -5
Post by Deleted on Dec 29, 2013 9:28:12 GMT -5
The critique of french frank and the Friends of Radio 3 (FoR3) is that BBC Radio 3 is dumbing down. At the beginning of December 2013, the Friends of Radio 3, a listeners’ group, wrote to Lord Hall, the BBC director-general, highlighting concerns about the way the corporation treats classical music, and the “extent to which it underestimates the intelligence of the public”.
Referring to budget cuts to classical output, the letter said 720 signatories wished to “express dismay at the decline of a station which was once intelligent, educational and enjoyable”, saying it was “increasingly frequently, none of these things”.
Writing in today's 'Sunday Telegraph', Hannah Furness report that the Radio 3 boss defends playing of film scores and TV themes: the controller of BBC Radio 3 defends the station from accusations of "dumbing down" and says it will continue to play theme tunes from television shows and films.
To classical purists, it may not be music to their ears. But the controller of BBC Radio 3 has spoken of the importance of television theme tunes and film scores as part of the station’s output, as it tries to capture the attention of younger listeners. Roger Wright defended the addition of music such as the soundtracks from 'Doctor Who', 'Star Wars' and 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' to the Radio 3 repertoire, saying it was “key” to enticing a new generation to appreciate classical music.
Roger Wright argued that it was no longer appropriate to cater only for a long-standing, knowledgeable audience. While warning that classical music should not be the preserve of an educated elite, Mr Wright also defended his station against accusations of dumbing down. He told 'The Sunday Telegraph' there was no point giving the Radio 3 audience “solely what it already knows”. Hannah concludes thus:
I suppose that it is worth asking whether film scores are dumb? I would argue that cinema emerged as the greatest artform of the twentieth century, and as a form of multimedia, films remain the greatest artform of modern times. Of course, it is dumber to listen to the film score without watching the film, so in this specific sense, listening to film scores alone is a pretty dumb way to appreciate the art of cinema. It is a bit like divorcing ballet music from dance or operatic music from drama!
Nevertheless, a good film score can also offer a way into classical music for those who know little about it. Is this dumbing down or dumbing up?
Referring to budget cuts to classical output, the letter said 720 signatories wished to “express dismay at the decline of a station which was once intelligent, educational and enjoyable”, saying it was “increasingly frequently, none of these things”.
Writing in today's 'Sunday Telegraph', Hannah Furness report that the Radio 3 boss defends playing of film scores and TV themes: the controller of BBC Radio 3 defends the station from accusations of "dumbing down" and says it will continue to play theme tunes from television shows and films.
To classical purists, it may not be music to their ears. But the controller of BBC Radio 3 has spoken of the importance of television theme tunes and film scores as part of the station’s output, as it tries to capture the attention of younger listeners. Roger Wright defended the addition of music such as the soundtracks from 'Doctor Who', 'Star Wars' and 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' to the Radio 3 repertoire, saying it was “key” to enticing a new generation to appreciate classical music.
Roger Wright argued that it was no longer appropriate to cater only for a long-standing, knowledgeable audience. While warning that classical music should not be the preserve of an educated elite, Mr Wright also defended his station against accusations of dumbing down. He told 'The Sunday Telegraph' there was no point giving the Radio 3 audience “solely what it already knows”. Hannah concludes thus:
' ... In recent years, others have claimed that the station has appeared to be attempting to appeal to an audience similar to Classic FM, traditionally assumed to be younger with less in-depth knowledge of the genre.
Music from films, musicals and television scores have quickly become part of Radio 3’s output, with the Doctor Who Prom now a regular best-seller. In September, the station participated in the BBC’s “Sound of the Cinema” season, with listeners voting the Star Wars theme tune the most popular film score, followed by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and West Side Story.
Mr Wright, who is also controller of the Proms, defended the decision to attract new audiences by using familiar music, which he believes will lead to a love of other classical works.
He said he “makes absolutely no apologies” for attempting to appeal to a wider audience, with the broadcast of more accessible music a “key” part of BBC strategy.
Speaking of accusations classical music is associated with snobbery, he argued the genre is “no more elitist than Test Match Special”.
He also spoke of the challenges of providing classical music for a modern audience, with short attention spans and an “instant gratification” culture making it more difficult for people to listen to lengthy pieces.
“When you ask a general audience when it first heard classical music or when it first heard an orchestra, pretty regularly they will refer back to film music or musical theatre,” said Mr Wright.
He added that performances such as the John Wilson Orchestra’s Hollywood Rhapsody Prom were now “really key” in Radio 3’s audience development strategy, with young people finding their way into things that would “otherwise feel forbidding”.
“There’s no point giving the Radio 3 audience solely what it already knows, because that way in the end you diminish the audience; you don’t help to grow it,” he said.
“Of course we should be catering for our audience that already has a certain amount of knowledge, but at the same time, we’re also about building new audiences. The whole point of the Proms was to build the largest possible audience, and that holds good for the Proms now and what we’re doing with Radio 3.”
When asked about accusations of dumbing down, he said those who believed classical music should be kept for an elite were in the minority.
“There will always be people in the audience who want to have this music for themselves and not let anyone else in, but it’s a tiny, tiny percentage,” he said.
“Why should it be that it’s only for a few people who already know about it?”
Claiming that accusations of elitism in classical music were unfair, he said the occasionally esoteric language was no worse than that of science, literature or on Test Match Special.
Mr Wright will today announce that Radio 3 is to spend two weeks of March in residency at the Southbank Centre in London, to allow audiences a further insight into how it works.
Speaking to this newspaper to mark the launch, he also talked about the challenge of presenting classical music to audiences in the modern day.
“One of the things we need to do is encourage people to listen and get used to listening,” he said.
“One of the challenges of the busyness of our lives is actually the length of time a lot of classical music takes and that notion that we live in this world in which we expect instantaneous gratification. We have the remote control, which means that, if we don’t like something in two minutes, we’ll flick over to something else.
“That’s an issue for a piece of music that is 40 minutes long, let alone a Wagner opera which might last four hours.
“That’s something about getting people used to the business of live music. We need to train people to have a longer attention span.” He added that he had also noticed a tendency for people to dismiss the genre without properly giving it a chance.
“I think it’s perfectly OK for people to say they don’t like particular bits of music for whatever reason, because we all have particular tastes,” Mr Wright said.
“But I think what’s disappointing is people say they don’t like something based on no experience of it at all. It’s amazing how many people will have a preconception about a particular composer or group, whatever sort of music it may be, without ever really having sampled it.
“They’ve just picked up the vibe that it’s not particularly fashionable or not for them.
“But when you challenge them, you realise they’ve got no knowledge of it at all, and that’s just lazy thinking.” '
Music from films, musicals and television scores have quickly become part of Radio 3’s output, with the Doctor Who Prom now a regular best-seller. In September, the station participated in the BBC’s “Sound of the Cinema” season, with listeners voting the Star Wars theme tune the most popular film score, followed by The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and West Side Story.
Mr Wright, who is also controller of the Proms, defended the decision to attract new audiences by using familiar music, which he believes will lead to a love of other classical works.
He said he “makes absolutely no apologies” for attempting to appeal to a wider audience, with the broadcast of more accessible music a “key” part of BBC strategy.
Speaking of accusations classical music is associated with snobbery, he argued the genre is “no more elitist than Test Match Special”.
He also spoke of the challenges of providing classical music for a modern audience, with short attention spans and an “instant gratification” culture making it more difficult for people to listen to lengthy pieces.
“When you ask a general audience when it first heard classical music or when it first heard an orchestra, pretty regularly they will refer back to film music or musical theatre,” said Mr Wright.
He added that performances such as the John Wilson Orchestra’s Hollywood Rhapsody Prom were now “really key” in Radio 3’s audience development strategy, with young people finding their way into things that would “otherwise feel forbidding”.
“There’s no point giving the Radio 3 audience solely what it already knows, because that way in the end you diminish the audience; you don’t help to grow it,” he said.
“Of course we should be catering for our audience that already has a certain amount of knowledge, but at the same time, we’re also about building new audiences. The whole point of the Proms was to build the largest possible audience, and that holds good for the Proms now and what we’re doing with Radio 3.”
When asked about accusations of dumbing down, he said those who believed classical music should be kept for an elite were in the minority.
“There will always be people in the audience who want to have this music for themselves and not let anyone else in, but it’s a tiny, tiny percentage,” he said.
“Why should it be that it’s only for a few people who already know about it?”
Claiming that accusations of elitism in classical music were unfair, he said the occasionally esoteric language was no worse than that of science, literature or on Test Match Special.
Mr Wright will today announce that Radio 3 is to spend two weeks of March in residency at the Southbank Centre in London, to allow audiences a further insight into how it works.
Speaking to this newspaper to mark the launch, he also talked about the challenge of presenting classical music to audiences in the modern day.
“One of the things we need to do is encourage people to listen and get used to listening,” he said.
“One of the challenges of the busyness of our lives is actually the length of time a lot of classical music takes and that notion that we live in this world in which we expect instantaneous gratification. We have the remote control, which means that, if we don’t like something in two minutes, we’ll flick over to something else.
“That’s an issue for a piece of music that is 40 minutes long, let alone a Wagner opera which might last four hours.
“That’s something about getting people used to the business of live music. We need to train people to have a longer attention span.” He added that he had also noticed a tendency for people to dismiss the genre without properly giving it a chance.
“I think it’s perfectly OK for people to say they don’t like particular bits of music for whatever reason, because we all have particular tastes,” Mr Wright said.
“But I think what’s disappointing is people say they don’t like something based on no experience of it at all. It’s amazing how many people will have a preconception about a particular composer or group, whatever sort of music it may be, without ever really having sampled it.
“They’ve just picked up the vibe that it’s not particularly fashionable or not for them.
“But when you challenge them, you realise they’ve got no knowledge of it at all, and that’s just lazy thinking.” '
I suppose that it is worth asking whether film scores are dumb? I would argue that cinema emerged as the greatest artform of the twentieth century, and as a form of multimedia, films remain the greatest artform of modern times. Of course, it is dumber to listen to the film score without watching the film, so in this specific sense, listening to film scores alone is a pretty dumb way to appreciate the art of cinema. It is a bit like divorcing ballet music from dance or operatic music from drama!
Nevertheless, a good film score can also offer a way into classical music for those who know little about it. Is this dumbing down or dumbing up?
