NPR, CPR, and serious music.
For many years now, I have listened to NPR radio not only for current events but also news of the arts and music. This is especially so, since so many newspapers have unfortunately gone under (we know very well about that here in Denver) or, are now forced to be filled with advertisements rather than news. But as I have said in past articles, it is sad that even NPR does not always have the latest in news dealing with serious music. Having said that, I hasten to point out that I cannot listen to NPR twenty-four hours a day, so perhaps I missed the story on the death of Sir Charles Mackerras or Leon Kirchner if there were any.
NPR does have quite a few programs devoted to classical music; for example, Christopher O’Riley’s show called From the Top, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pipe Dreams (devoted to organ music), and five or six others. However, in the daily course of events these programs and the musicians that are showcased on them, are very rarely mentioned. All small references to music on NPR outside the programs mentioned above, are devoted to rock and world music. At the end of Terry Gross’program, “Fresh Air,” there is often a seven or eight minute slot devoted to music, but almost always it is about rock or world music, wherein the profundity of rock is always expressed with heartfelt verbiage. And usually, any reference to world music concerns the musicians explaining how they have been influenced by rock. In addition, I somehow seem to have been under a misapprehension that world music was primarily folk music. But then, of course, many Americans talk about a particular musician who writes folk music, not realizing that folk music is not written, it is handed down by oral tradition. Throughout the day there are little snippets about new albums that have been released, or albums that have been rediscovered, and none of these albums in recent memory have concerned classical music or serious music. Even in the middle of the night, as I listen to NPR because of insomnia, I have never heard a classical music program.
The other day, awash in frustration, I went to the NPR website and sure enough, there were several programs devoted to serious music (I am going to try to use the term serious music rather than classical music, because classical music refers to a specific period in music history), but I have never heard them on the local NPR station which, of course, is Colorado Public Radio, i.e., KVOD. Be aware that NPR owns Colorado Public Radio, but you must also be aware that Colorado Public Radio has to purchase its programs from NPR. It is a shame that some of these programs such as Pipe Dreams are no longer heard on KVOD. There are at least two possible reasons; 1) it costs money to buy them from NPR, and 2) KVOD is under the conceit that there is no audience for such a program devoted to organ music. If number two is the main reason, then I seriously believe that KVOD is grossly underestimating their audience. However, that underestimation is something they seem to do on a regular basis. There are a couple of music program hosts on KVOD that know precious little about music. To be fair, their degrees are in journalism, but my question, then, would be why are they hosting a program on music where their knowledge, as I have said before, seems to come from the on-the-job training of reading liner notes. And to make matters worse, the public at large believes that they DO know something about music because they are hosting a music program. Keep in mind that KVOD and most other stations that play music, whether it be rock or serious, use a computer program that chooses what music is to be played. The individual who produces the music programs simply decides whether the music of the day should be serene or exciting. The program then responds with a list of compositions which fit whatever the producer wishes. One of my complaints is the same complaint that I have heard from many individuals, and that is that KVOD plays the same thing over and over again. There is a considerable amount of Baroque music, a considerable amount of classical and romantic music and there is some music from the impressionist period. There is hardly any music played of the 20th century, aside from Stravinsky or Prokofieff. Do not misunderstand me – these are remarkable composers, but my question is this: when will we hear something that has not been played before on KVOD? Both CPR and NPR pride themselves on appealing to the intelligentsia, shall we say. They have sophisticated discussions on all manner of topics and, I believe, try to present a balanced approach. But NPR mentions rock music and commercial music far more during the day than serious music and CPR plays the same thing over and over again, as if they are afraid they will destroy their customer base by playing new music. CPR even plays the same Mozart symphonies again and again, and I even heard one of their journalism-educated hosts make the ludicrous comment the other day that Mozart’s Symphony Nr. 39 was leading the way to the romantic era.
The late Karl Haas had a program on NPR called Adventures in Good Music which was played both on NPR and CPR. I am baffled that both organizations have not replaced his program with something quite similar. They need a host who not only has degrees in music, but someone who’s had a long experience with teaching music and knows the repertoire, and the difference, say, between Mozart and the romantic era. There are individuals at CPR and NPR who do know that difference, but it often appears that they are given very little time for playing something new, and following the performance up with intelligent discussion. Whether intended or not, this is yet another blow for serious music. It must have intelligent discussion devoid of clever chit-chat that supposedly draws in the audience. Drawing in the audience is what the music will do if given the chance.
Newspapers are now full of ads rather than news, and even television, at least on the major networks, is full of insipid shows, and the news broadcasts are full of thirty-second “in-depth” reports. Radio may be one of the last intelligent bastions – let us hope it does not follow the path that television has taken. I believe it was Anthony Gallagher who said, “Most television sets have a brightness knob, but lately it doesn’t seem to work.”
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Filed under: Commentary | Tags: Colorado Public Radio, CPR, KVOD, NPR
For many years now, I have listened to NPR radio not only for current events but also news of the arts and music. This is especially so, since so many newspapers have unfortunately gone under (we know very well about that here in Denver) or, are now forced to be filled with advertisements rather than news. But as I have said in past articles, it is sad that even NPR does not always have the latest in news dealing with serious music. Having said that, I hasten to point out that I cannot listen to NPR twenty-four hours a day, so perhaps I missed the story on the death of Sir Charles Mackerras or Leon Kirchner if there were any.
NPR does have quite a few programs devoted to classical music; for example, Christopher O’Riley’s show called From the Top, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pipe Dreams (devoted to organ music), and five or six others. However, in the daily course of events these programs and the musicians that are showcased on them, are very rarely mentioned. All small references to music on NPR outside the programs mentioned above, are devoted to rock and world music. At the end of Terry Gross’program, “Fresh Air,” there is often a seven or eight minute slot devoted to music, but almost always it is about rock or world music, wherein the profundity of rock is always expressed with heartfelt verbiage. And usually, any reference to world music concerns the musicians explaining how they have been influenced by rock. In addition, I somehow seem to have been under a misapprehension that world music was primarily folk music. But then, of course, many Americans talk about a particular musician who writes folk music, not realizing that folk music is not written, it is handed down by oral tradition. Throughout the day there are little snippets about new albums that have been released, or albums that have been rediscovered, and none of these albums in recent memory have concerned classical music or serious music. Even in the middle of the night, as I listen to NPR because of insomnia, I have never heard a classical music program.
The other day, awash in frustration, I went to the NPR website and sure enough, there were several programs devoted to serious music (I am going to try to use the term serious music rather than classical music, because classical music refers to a specific period in music history), but I have never heard them on the local NPR station which, of course, is Colorado Public Radio, i.e., KVOD. Be aware that NPR owns Colorado Public Radio, but you must also be aware that Colorado Public Radio has to purchase its programs from NPR. It is a shame that some of these programs such as Pipe Dreams are no longer heard on KVOD. There are at least two possible reasons; 1) it costs money to buy them from NPR, and 2) KVOD is under the conceit that there is no audience for such a program devoted to organ music. If number two is the main reason, then I seriously believe that KVOD is grossly underestimating their audience. However, that underestimation is something they seem to do on a regular basis. There are a couple of music program hosts on KVOD that know precious little about music. To be fair, their degrees are in journalism, but my question, then, would be why are they hosting a program on music where their knowledge, as I have said before, seems to come from the on-the-job training of reading liner notes. And to make matters worse, the public at large believes that they DO know something about music because they are hosting a music program. Keep in mind that KVOD and most other stations that play music, whether it be rock or serious, use a computer program that chooses what music is to be played. The individual who produces the music programs simply decides whether the music of the day should be serene or exciting. The program then responds with a list of compositions which fit whatever the producer wishes. One of my complaints is the same complaint that I have heard from many individuals, and that is that KVOD plays the same thing over and over again. There is a considerable amount of Baroque music, a considerable amount of classical and romantic music and there is some music from the impressionist period. There is hardly any music played of the 20th century, aside from Stravinsky or Prokofieff. Do not misunderstand me – these are remarkable composers, but my question is this: when will we hear something that has not been played before on KVOD? Both CPR and NPR pride themselves on appealing to the intelligentsia, shall we say. They have sophisticated discussions on all manner of topics and, I believe, try to present a balanced approach. But NPR mentions rock music and commercial music far more during the day than serious music and CPR plays the same thing over and over again, as if they are afraid they will destroy their customer base by playing new music. CPR even plays the same Mozart symphonies again and again, and I even heard one of their journalism-educated hosts make the ludicrous comment the other day that Mozart’s Symphony Nr. 39 was leading the way to the romantic era.
The late Karl Haas had a program on NPR called Adventures in Good Music which was played both on NPR and CPR. I am baffled that both organizations have not replaced his program with something quite similar. They need a host who not only has degrees in music, but someone who’s had a long experience with teaching music and knows the repertoire, and the difference, say, between Mozart and the romantic era. There are individuals at CPR and NPR who do know that difference, but it often appears that they are given very little time for playing something new, and following the performance up with intelligent discussion. Whether intended or not, this is yet another blow for serious music. It must have intelligent discussion devoid of clever chit-chat that supposedly draws in the audience. Drawing in the audience is what the music will do if given the chance.
Newspapers are now full of ads rather than news, and even television, at least on the major networks, is full of insipid shows, and the news broadcasts are full of thirty-second “in-depth” reports. Radio may be one of the last intelligent bastions – let us hope it does not follow the path that television has taken. I believe it was Anthony Gallagher who said, “Most television sets have a brightness knob, but lately it doesn’t seem to work.”
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