Michael S. Cole wrote:
>I would guess the population of the areas of Northern California and Nevada
>to be within range of one of its four transmitters to be about 4,000,000
>people. How many of them listen, 100,000? 50,000? How many would listen
>to a station whose staples were music written since 1950, 1000? 500? How
>long would a station with 1000 listeners last?
I most sincerely believe that the media has the power to define classical
music in the ears of its listeners. I believe you are coming from a
different perspective.
From my experience, public broadcasting, especially in the last 15 years
or so, brings a myopic perspective to classical music and the arts in
general. Even within the range of the familiar, there is so much of the
most familiar. Rimsky Korsakov wrote many wonderful pieces, not just
Scheherazade. But even more fundamentally, I wonder, what is the function
of public broadcasting. Is it to attract a large audience? Is it the duty
of a University to increase enrollment? Again I make the association with
the educational aspect of public broadcasting.
Not every likes what they learn in school, nor does every student enjoy the
process...
For me, it seems that when "push comes to shove" ratings seems to be the
primary concern of public broadcasting.
>It is often lamented on this list that the young are no longer exposed
>to CM. Here at least is an opportunity for young people to listen to what
>to them represents a fresh new listening experience. If that station was
>playing a steady diet of late 20th Century composers, how many would be
>turned on to CM, 10? 5?
I would counter by saying that I often find that the young relate better to
works that capture the rhythmic energy of youth. I still remember hearing
William Schuman's 3rd Symphony for the first time. I was in the 7th grade.
I was overwhelmed by the power of the work, and the vitality of it rhythmic
drive.
>Many of the members of this list have more CDs than the population of
>some small countries (or so it seems). Is that typical of the average CM
>listener? Many of the members of this list go to more live concerts than
>there are weeks in the year (or so it seems). Is that typical of the
>average CM concertgoer?
I guess I don't see your point. I would guess that the "average" classical
concertgoer rarely listens to classical radio or even buys recordings.
I think it would be interesting to see some statistic on this.
>... If the most of the ideas on CM programming I've seen suggested
>on this thread were put into practice, there would soon be no CM on the
>radio anywhere. I don't see how that would benefit anyone.
It would be there for those who are really interested in sincerely
exploring classical music, educate listeners as to the wide range of
expression that can be found in art music and provide a venue that would
challenge their thinking and engage their minds and emotions. Classical
music is full of such a wide range of expression, styles and content.
Karl
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