So what do we make of the BBC’s new trance channel?
NewsYesterday morning, before daybreak, the BBC launched Radio 3 Unwind, a 24/7 stream of calming classical music. It aims ‘to enhance wellbeing and help listeners escape the pressures of daily life’.
The morning show, presented by psychologist Dr Sian Williams, offers ‘soothing and nourishing melodies from Clara Schumann, JS Bach and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’ and explores ‘how embracing the seasons can be beneficial for our health.’
The musical information is elementary, slightly patronising. Some Radio 3 diehards are spluttering over social media. Clearly they have not listened long enough to unwind.
Judge for yourselves here.
I’m a long term R3 listener and regularly stand up to defend its new styles in these pages. However this one is a step too far. Classic fm does this stuff interminably and I always disparage it. Horses for courses and all that but R3 is capable of far better. Leave it to the ‘other side’ and keep playing a good variety as before. Who needs to unwind at that time of day anyway? And that drippy, slow voice delivery! Horrible! It’s wake up time not bedtime.
An unwise experiment that will with luck be quickly dropped.
Why disparage it? Accept that some people enjoy it. Yo0u don’t have to listen to it if you don’t have to. I don’t listen to Andre Rieu but I don’t disparage him because he is a fine musician bringing enjoyment to a whole lot of people.
You’d have to check the archives JTS but you’ll find I stand up for A Rieu as well! I draw the line at Einaudi though. No excuses for that.
My problem with Relaxing Classics at All Hours of the Bloody Day or whatever Classic fm calls it now is that it is played interminably; all evening now. As Barry says below it’s the marketing of classical music as if it’s for the purpose of relaxation only that I have a problem with. Radio 3 can and mostly does provide a wonderful cornucopia of all types of music. I hope it continues to prosper without needing to lower its standards this far.
Marketing classical music as something to relax to will turn out to be a massive own goal, in my opinion. It’s been going on for some time. A future audience is needed but, in the absence of exposure to a wide variety of styles, there’s already a tendency for young people to regard the genre as slow, long and boring, enjoyed almost exclusively by nerds and people over 70. Certainly not by “normal” people.
I don’t see a huge appetite for relaxing pop or rock music. Why would they be attracted to the same character in classical?
I would have thought that Classic FM had the market in this and should be allowed to continue with it. The BBC should s[pend its money elsewhere.