Magazine: CLASSICAL GAS - January 2012

Word reached me recently of the passing of Ken Bayley. For a good ten years, Ken was the voice of Suffolk Classics on BBC Radio Suffolk, a glorious hour of well-chosen pieces knitted together by a presenter of the old school. Anyone who had the opportunity to listen to Ken’s mellifluous tones in the 1990s will almost certainly remember the man with real affection. This reminiscing has brought to my mind the question of classical music coverage on our local media outlets. For example, despite a myriad variety of programming, the Ipswich Community Radio schedule appears to offer nothing. The East Anglian Daily Times classical previews and reviews are not what they were (but at least they still make the effort). There is no longer a classical music programme on any BBC local radio station. In these days of tightly controlled playlists, this last fact is sadly not that surprising and so-called specialist music is generally dealt with within the various mainstream programmes as appropriate. But – hang on - can classical music really be called “specialist”? A quick check on the excellent new Desert Island Discs website would say otherwise, with many people you wouldn’t expect choosing classical pieces in amongst their eight favourite discs. Joan Armatrading, Roger Waters and Debby Harry all chose music by Mahler. The Rolling Stones’ Charlie Watts has a penchant for Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams. John Peel’s favourite track may be Teenage Kicks, but with all the music at his disposal, he found space to include both Handel and Rachmaninov. Locally, many orchestras and choirs play to audience sizes that local jazz, rock and blues bands can only dream of. I could go on … in short the “classical is elitest” myth is well and truly debunked.

So, why not sprinkle in the odd piece within mainstream local radio programming, especially when it has direct relevance to a subject being discussed? Reasons sometimes given are that the tracks themselves can be a bit long and may not sit well alongside a diet of pop and AOR. Length can be an issue but having recently heard an excerpt of The Lark Ascending played on a BBC local station that amounted to little more than 90 seconds, it seems as though the classics are played reluctantly – apologetically even. After all, you wouldn’t fade out Stairway to Heaven or Bohemian Rhapsody half way through (actually, I can think of one presenter who probably would), so why not play such a well-loved classical piece in its entirety? In any case there are plenty of shorter pieces that would fit the bill and – rather than alienate the audience and have them reaching for the off switch – I am certain that such music would make many people stop, listen and appreciate.

January is typically very quiet, but there are a couple of events worth taking in. Firstly at the time of writing, there are just one or two tickets left for the very lovely Katherine Jenkins at the Ipswich Regent on the 12th and 13th January. Then, there is the equally lovely East Anglian Chamber Orchestra concert at the Bury apex on the 28th. The first half includes Mozart’s Gran Partita for twelve wind players (no sniggering at the back please) and double bass – this piece features two basset horns, which are the fore-runner of the clarinet. For the second half, Takane Funatsu and Nicola Tait play the seldom performed but much-loved Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor. The CVs of Takane and Nicola read very impressively and this should be a real delight should you choose to go along.