Karl Miller wrote in response to me:

>Rimsky Korsakov wrote many wonderful pieces, not just Scheherazade.

I agree with this wholeheartedly.  There is a great deal of repertoire of
"standard" composers that never gets played.  Certainly public radio should
play more of it.

>But even more fundamentally, I wonder, what is the function of public
>broadcasting.  Is it to attract a large audience?

Is it to attract a small audience?

>Again I make the association with the educational aspect of public
>broadcasting.

Those days are gone and don't seem likely to come again.

>For me, it seems that when "push comes to shove" ratings seems to be the
>primary concern of public broadcasting.

This is unfortunately the truth, and is undoubtedly the main rason that
stations broadcasting any kind of CM are an endangered species.

>>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.

That's why VH1 and MTV do so well.

>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's rhythmic drive.

I, too, first learned to love CM in the 7th grade.  My seventh grade had about
200 people.  I was the only one with an interest in CM.

>>Many of the members of this list have more CDs than the population of
>>some small countries (or so it seems).  ...
>
>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.

My point is that the members of this list are atypical in the extreme.
Their tastes in CM and exposure to CM have only matured after many years
of listening and exploring the sometimes obscure corners of the genre.
The lives of most people do not center on music, let alone Classical Music.
What do most of your friends say when you tell them how many CDs you have?
Mine look at me like I'm more than a little strange.

>>...  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.

It is indeed, and I'm sorry that public radio stations don't broaden
their playlists and include a few hours a week of late 20th Century music,
but anything more than that would be suicide.  I think that the argument
that everyone needs to learn to like what I like will result in none of
us having anything.  You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make
him drink.

Mike Cole