Lyric fm's Breakfast show presenter - Marty Whelan.

MadsL

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

pithy bursts of variety,

No Vivaldi then :rolleyes:...care to take a bet that Marty can make it through to Friday without Vivaldi withdrawal symptoms? I'll donate €10 to the charity of choice if he doesn't play any Vivaldi this week...

Oh, Nova thread still awaits your presence over here <<<<<

HugoBradyBrown

doomed wrote: »

That is real public service broadcasting. Play all the movements. It might be the only time in a particular work's entire history that an Irish channel plays it in full. Commercially it makes no sense whatever but should be applauded.

Yes, there is a lot to be said for such programming. However, if we pause and examine the manner in which works were performed in, say, Beethoven's time, we find symphonies performed with concerto movements and songs interspersed between the symphonic movements, or with movements repeated, or with single movements played, or movements played in any order or an audience taking a punt on just a couple of movements and coming back a week later to put a toe in the water for some more. We also sometimes find jugglers or conjurers or siffleurs or bawdy popular songs programmed between the movements of great works in the classical repertoire in concerts conducted by or attended by the composers.

Frankly, Mozart or Beethoven would probably find Marty in the Morning a more familiar kind of performance, in terms of content and variety, than they would some reverential symphony performance down in the Hall. And the divine Mozart would probably spend a lot of his studio time with Marty joshing and playing practical jokes with him as well. He might well even have written a Divertimento for Teacups and Biscuit Plate for Marty, as a challenge and out of respect for the heroic work the man does to break down the barriers to art music in Ireland.



Hugo Brady Brown

HugoBradyBrown

Dear All,

On Sunday Gay mentioned during the Old Time Warp show that he and Kathleen recently stayed in some very expensive but excellent value and high quality hotel in Connemara, but I missed the name: if anyone knows what one it was, perhaps they could post it, please? It sounded magical in his glowing description: roaring fires in every room; nooks and crannies like in a Hallowe'en tale; wonderful service; great food; stunning, stunning views, and so forth. (He coined a new word, I think, when he said "we were particularly well-cuisined". I think it was his use of that neologism that distracted my attention from the name of the hotel he was mentioning.)


Hugo Brady Brown

TimmyTarmac

Did Gay mention if he put his hand in his pocket to pay for said wonderous hotel?
Again, Gay is fine when playing or talking about his music. It's when we get to the long links pimping certain products, services or events that the trouble begins.
Another example of the self indulgence that hurts Ireland's national music and arts service.
We'll file this shilling with Marty Whelan's mad and offensive music selections and Frank MacNamara's request for his deceased mother.
Why can't they shut up and get on with the music that Lyric is supposed to play?
Funny, I've never heard this behaviour from Carroll, Nolan, Heriott, Taylor, Godley, Helme, Corcoran et al.

Reform it or shut it down, DG!

HugoBradyBrown

TimmyTarmac wrote: »

Did Gay mention if he put his hand in his pocket to pay for said wonderous hotel?
Again, Gay is fine when playing or talking about his music. It's when we get to the long links pimping certain products, services or events that the trouble begins.
Another example of the self indulgence that hurts Ireland's national music and arts service.
We'll file this shilling with Marty Whelan's mad and offensive music selections and Frank MacNamara's request for his deceased mother.
Why can't they shut up and get on with the music that Lyric is supposed to play?
Funny, I've never heard this behaviour from Carroll, Nolan, Heriott, Taylor, Godley, Helme, Corcoran et al.

Reform it or shut it down, DG!

Dear All,


I agree that we do tend to hear less comment and editorial from the other talent during the quieter hours of the day, but I think that there is a reasonable explanation. While the others are, in the main, pure music broadcasters, Marty, Gay and Frank are more than that. Their brief is to give 'added value' to the music and to the time.

Gay, for example, is a broadcaster who has looked at Irish life over such a long time in such detail and with such a knowing and weary eye that he is in his own right a member of the 'Commentariat'. We value his opinions on many issues, since he is a well-informed, well-connected man to whom all doors in the country are open (as all radio sets should be). As a result, he is one of the country's major opinion-formers. The serious consideration of his name as an agreed candidate for the Presidency recently is evidence of the stature of his views and of his standing among the people. On cultural matters, and not just in his area of expertise in jazz (and the Irish harp!), he is a sure guide to what is going to get seats filled in cinemas, theatres and concert venues and of what books are going to sell well. His enthusiasm is contagious and it pierces through the facade of antiquated world-weariness that he wryly adopts for the Old Time Warp. Thus his show is paradoxically one of the most life-affirming on radio.

Frank's is a major musical talent (as performer, impresario, arranger, composer and, now, broadcaster) and, while his extra-musical range of opinions is more tightly focussed than Gay's, nevertheless, he has opinions on matters musical and artistic that resonate with the man and woman in the street.

To come back to Marty - and not to be taken in by the jesters who launched a risible campaign to promote Marty as a candidate in the Presidential election - , he too has a lot to say, about music, life, film, TV, his own philosophy, books and so forth. Undiluted music at rush hour is inappropriately 'dead' in feeling, so with Mart we get a real sense that we are listening to live radio. In the morning, especially, we need the reassurance that comes from hearing a living voice, not from an endless succession of record tracks, with perfunctory interspersed CD credits. There is something intensely soporific about an unremitting series of musical numbers. While RTE Lyric FM's brief most of the time is to sooth the nation and soak away our cares, at the most active hours of the day, this is temporarily unsuitable.

A simple way to grasp the contrast between talk-free endless music and the cleverly crafted work of these three lively, fun and gifted broadcasters, is to reflect on the nighttime service on RTE Lyric FM (Lyric Through The Night). This is a sequence of musical numbers, all probably very fine in their own right, but they rather are like unrisen cakes. The basic ingredients are still present, but the thing that gives life to a show, that gives air and meaning to it, is missing: the intelligent voice of a live human being, engaging periodically and appropriately with the audience, with due reference to the time of day and the nature of the programme that they are fronting.

If I might also take issue with an unfortunate and, I assume already regretted, choice of word by another poster: it is wrong to suggest that Gay is 'pimping' any product. The most he does is to draw to the attention of the listener some carefully selected cultural events, services or products that he evidently is enthusiastic about from his personal experience travelling around the world, or that he knows will appeal to the listenership. Coming up to the festive season, this is a public service. That he is not 'pimping' is clear from the fact he seems barely to have mentioned the name of the particular hotel he and Ms Watkins stayed in in Connemara, since even I missed the name. His main point, I imagine, was that there is superb value to be had in the more luxurious hotels of Ireland at present, and, by implication, that it is a patriotic duty of people to avail of them. Mentions of Brendan's CD set and of John Bowman's book on our history are useful tips to listeners (a group who choose to listen without any compulsion to the Old Time Warp, let it be said) for gifts that are likely to be perfectly acceptable to other listeners over the festive season. Should they wish to try an inferior product, there is nothing to stop them doing so!

(And we can take it as read that a man of Gay's standing in the community would for ethical reasons not accept any arrangement other than his defraying of all his own personal expenses. Indeed, as Chairman of the Road Safety Authority, he would (though entirely unnecessarily) also have pragmatic and regulatory reasons concerning the probity of a person holding a public office to do so. However, I feel it is indelicate of me to intrude into this area, since it is of little relevance to the topic of this Board, still less, of this Thread.)



Hugo Brady Brown

mbur

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

Dear All,


blah blah blah



Hugo Brady Brown

Seriously Hugo, get it down to 6 sentences and I'll read it.

With the utmost respect for your views,

mbur

HugoBradyBrown

mbur wrote: »

Seriously Hugo, get it down to 6 sentences and I'll read it.

With the utmost respect for your views,

mbur

Dear All,

You can hardly imagine how concentrated and boiled down my interventions on this thread are. While not wishing to appear in any sense quixotic, I should say that concision is an achieved desideratum of mine and every word I put on screen must earn its keep. I would suggest to any reader deterred by the apparent extent of any post of mine to persist, as arguments of great force are expressed there with clarity, determination and concentration, if I may say so.

(By the way, I was ever so slightly perplexed by a recent post referring to the 'Nova' thread. (Nova is a (regrettably) low-listenership programme in the middle of the Sunday evening schedule, ticking the box for having a 'contemporary music programme' on RTE Lyric FM.) Nothing seems to be happening there, as far as I can see, which I assume is merely a reflection of the reach of the programme.)

Hugo Brady Brown

TacaFail

ghiertal wrote: »

TimmyTarmac wrote: »

9 am this morning.... 'We all Stand Together' by Paul MacCartney. Chosen by Hugo (The other Hugo). Jesus Wept.
Followed by Handel. Before Hugo's script, a communication from David Mooney. QUOTE]

I always thought those messages from hugo were literally a figment of martys imagination. Am i wrong here? Would any sane person take that much time out of their day sending a description of his life to marty? The "humour",prose and song selections have marty written all over them really. I'd say it is something he took from old terry wogan broadcasts. Marty delivers an utterly rubbish service for listeners but i don't have a high opinion other presenters eg. niall carroll and liz nolan. Paul herriott is the best thing on lyric, he plays excellent music and rarely prattles on.

its an OK song but not the rest of it.

mbur

TacaFail wrote: »

:mad: :mad: :mad:

OK - OK - OK - so my posts get dumped by the mod and this cr4p gets left here. I kep away from this thread for a while and I come back and find hes' still at it only worse. Does any one out there care or is there anything that any one will do to save us. SOS SOS SOS

Why is Hugo Brady Brown - funny name - allowed to do this??? He'es a nutcase!!!

I think this is an alias for Whelan - who else would even care so much????

And I get the infarction the last time I said something normal and he'es let get away with this!!!

Just play the music, Whelan - and then we'll leave you alone. And stop putting your stooge up here trying to crowd every one else's view off the board.

Thanking you.

:mad::mad::mad:

Careful friend, You are over the limit. 7 sentences by my count but they are short so no problem there. Even Hugo can manage to keep it short(ish) when required. I'm just laying down a personal parameter. You may note his reply to me was within said parameter. For that I thank him.

Getting back on topic soon

mbur

mbur

How would you feel if I asked Marty to play Joe Walsh?
A Great American - Just what Marty likes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wpY34s48U8

bbability

. Tacafail banned for a week. Other posters warned not to wander off topic.

HugoBradyBrown

Dear All,

It's clearly been an unusual evening on this thread, at least. Thanks for the kind and positive feedback that I received 'off-thread'. It has been uplifting to see that the majority of people view the situation sanely and thankfully.

It struck me out of the blue this evening (while listening to The Blue - what else?) that there are some little questions we might ask ourselves if we find MITM unsuited to our rarefied musical palates.

Why does he do it? Why does Marty bother? Why doesn't he take the easy way, have the quiet life, simply sit in the studio and put on a few CDs and tell us, before and after, things like 'that was the very slow movement of Gyorgy's 'Symphony for Squealing Calf and Orchestra' in the specially elongated director's cut, performed by the Czechoslovak Radio Orchestra under Tibor Paul. And next we have ...'?

Such a funeral director's approach to the art of radio might mean a modest increase in the amount of music being played per unit time. I would respectfully submit, however, that it would mean a distinct lessening in the quality of service provided.

The man provides a high-energy, honest-to-goodness, hilarious three hours of personal investment in our entertainment. I suspect that we are either the grateful or the ungrateful beneficiaries of a professional broadcaster's work ethic.


Hugo Brady Brown

Maggie McGaggie

THE Fingal finalists of the Nursing Homes Ireland Care Awards 2011, in association with Homecare Medical Supplies, are just days away from the awards ceremony. The finalists have reached the prestigious award ceremony, being held in Citywest Hotel on Thursday November 10th, having been chosen from entries from communities across Ireland. Deborah Lynch from Hamilton Park Care Facility, Balrothery has been shortlisted in the Nursing Home Director of Nursing/person in Charge Award, while Julia Thurmann, Hamilton Park Care Facility, Balrothery is a finalist in the Nursing Home Resident Achievement Award. Winnet Mafati, St Doolagh's Park Care Centre, Balgriffin has been shortlisted in the Nursing Home Ancillary Worker Award. MC on the night will be RTE Presenter Marty Whelan.

I'd give my eye-teeth to be there but a ticket simply cannot be had. How does Marty find the time between preparing for MITM, Winning Streak and this? I would hate to see the quality of MITM fall from it's high standard and hope Marty doesn't burn himself out, what with his incessant chipper nature. RTE take note. Well, i feel better after that. Dmitri i thank thee. Guhawjus.

HugoBradyBrown

Maggie McGaggie wrote: »

THE Fingal finalists of the Nursing Homes Ireland Care Awards 2011, in association with Homecare Medical Supplies, are just days away from the awards ceremony. The finalists have reached the prestigious award ceremony, being held in Citywest Hotel on Thursday November 10th, having been chosen from entries from communities across Ireland. Deborah Lynch from Hamilton Park Care Facility, Balrothery has been shortlisted in the Nursing Home Director of Nursing/person in Charge Award, while Julia Thurmann, Hamilton Park Care Facility, Balrothery is a finalist in the Nursing Home Resident Achievement Award. Winnet Mafati, St Doolagh's Park Care Centre, Balgriffin has been shortlisted in the Nursing Home Ancillary Worker Award. MC on the night will be RTE Presenter Marty Whelan.

I'd give my eye-teeth to be there but a ticket simply cannot be had. How does Marty find the time between preparing for MITM, Winning Streak and this? I would hate to see the quality of MITM fall from it's high standard and hope Marty doesn't burn himself out, what with his incessant chipper nature. RTE take note. Well, i feel better after that. Dmitri i thank thee. Guhawjus.

Wise words, indeed!

I was at one time troubled on similar lines, but Mart seems to be able to continue, without evident strain, daily and weekly throughout the year. Other standard bearers within RTE seem to need a larger quotient of R&R, by all appearances, in order to keep the creative juices flowing at the optimum rate, because they keep to the Law Courts Terms in their schedules: Christmas Vacation, Easter Vacation; The Long Vacation, with a return to the bench in October. We are probably seeing in Marty's ceaseless work one example of the retrenchment in RTE, where one man has to carry additional burdens.

Marty also does, as we may know, magnificent work for particular charities, and, what is more, does this quietly, without fuss or fanfare; 'doing good by stealth', as they say. It is generally only the residents in a locality where an event is taking place who know about his involvement. As you say, Maggie McGaggie, it is hard to understand how he maintains the standard of presentation and the general tone of bonhomie without any decline, either on MITM or with the Streakers. In the past I did sometimes wonder if some of MITM might have been pre-recorded, but I have listened carefully for a year now (so long and yet so short a time!) and I cannot get any sense that it is other than live. It would save none of the housewives' favourite's time if it were recorded, in any case.


Hugo Brady Brown

mbur

Yes, the amount of thought and care that goes into Marty's musical selections is something that one pauses for thought over.

For those no familiar with tonight's suggested track, the musicians here are not the Simpson family. They are an English group that called themselves Pink Floyd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gJ5J1nn2Qw

Jammed in between some yankee crooner and a gospel choir of course.

HugoBradyBrown

mbur wrote: »

Yes, the amount of thought and care that goes into Marty's musical selections is something that one pauses for thought over.

For those no familiar with tonight's suggested track, the musicians here are not the Simpson family. They are an English group that called themselves Pink Floyd.

Yes, that's quite true. As well as 'I can sing a rainbow', I am reminded of the old song, the first verse of which I quote below:

"All God's creatures got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher,
Some sing out loud on the telephone wires,
And some just clap their hands, or paws, or anything they got now"


That, I suppose, is the laudable animating philosophy underpinning Marty in the Morning.


Hugo Brady Brown

MadsL

HugoBradyBrown wrote: »

(By the way, I was ever so slightly perplexed by a recent post referring to the 'Nova' thread. (Nova is a (regrettably) low-listenership programme in the middle of the Sunday evening schedule, ticking the box for having a 'contemporary music programme' on RTE Lyric FM.) Nothing seems to be happening there, as far as I can see, which I assume is merely a reflection of the reach of the programme.)

Hugo Brady Brown

I used to like your style...but not sure I'm going to bother with your obvious trolling much more. Your inverse snobbery is getting tiresome.

HugoBradyBrown

MadsL wrote: »

I used to like your style...but not sure I'm going to bother with your obvious trolling much more. Your inverse snobbery is getting tiresome.

Dear All (and in particular MadsL),


My views probably matter very little in the larger scheme of things, but just when I thought I was getting to grips with this new concept of 'trolling', what has just been written has knocked me back again and has shaken my confidence. Rather like 'inferiority complex' and 'superiority complex', the term 'inverse snobbery' is one that for me always causes a puff of fog to cross my field of vision. I frankly cannot conceive of what might be intended by the reference, in connection with my posts. As it happens, on our sister Nova thread only this afternoon, the presenter Bernard Clark and I have posted in response to each other, and the curtain has risen on a fair-minded, civilized and intelligent exchange that has the potential to yield fruitful results in the project of reaching greater and deeper mutual understanding of issues in contention, to the benefit of the programme, of the station and of the listenership at large.

Bernard has, like the gentleman he is, proposed a few points as initial feelers in this direction, and, snobbery of any kind notwithstanding, we are all welcome to join in the debate. I would urge the abjuring of any tendencies to apply conversation-stopping formulae, such as allegations of 'trolling', or, indeed, of 'inverse snobbery'. The world is better served by open, honest discussion of issues, no matter how far apart the positions of the debaters appear to be at the outset.

I would urge readers of this and the other thread to become posters, and to enrich and enliven the debate. Why can a person not celebrate both popular song and art music? Recall Haydn's string quartets and their debt to folk music, motivically, rhythmically and in other ways.

(And thanks again for the off-thread messages of support and agreement with the ideas I have posted here; it is rewarding and comforting to realise that there are so many readers who appreciate an effort to moderate the otherwise almost unfettered unfair criticism of MITM.)


Hugo Brady Brown

MadsL

Hugo, I very politely gave you a nudge towards responding to my post in the Nova thread, as you had promised to do 'once you got off the iPad'. You did not respond directly, as was your right...but you then posted this thinly veiled insult in this MITM thread.

(By the way, I was ever so slightly perplexed by a recent post referring to the 'Nova' thread. (Nova is a (regrettably) low-listenership programme in the middle of the Sunday evening schedule, ticking the box for having a 'contemporary music programme' on RTE Lyric FM.) Nothing seems to be happening there, as far as I can see, which I assume is merely a reflection of the reach of the programme.)

As you say, "The world is better served by open, honest discussion of issues"
let's have less snide barbs shall we?

HugoBradyBrown

MadsL wrote: »

Hugo, I very politely gave you a nudge towards responding to my post in the Nova thread, as you had promised to do 'once you got off the iPad'. You did not respond directly, as was your right...but you then posted this thinly veiled insult in this MITM thread.



As you say, "The world is better served by open, honest discussion of issues"
let's have less snide barbs shall we?

MadsL, I shall deal with this in the morning.


Hugo Brady Brown

HugoBradyBrown

MadsL wrote: »

Hugo, I very politely gave you a nudge towards responding to my post in the Nova thread, as you had promised to do 'once you got off the iPad'. You did not respond directly, as was your right...but you then posted this thinly veiled insult in this MITM thread.

Quote:
(By the way, I was ever so slightly perplexed by a recent post referring to the 'Nova' thread. (Nova is a (regrettably) low-listenership programme in the middle of the Sunday evening schedule, ticking the box for having a 'contemporary music programme' on RTE Lyric FM.) Nothing seems to be happening there, as far as I can see, which I assume is merely a reflection of the reach of the programme.)


As you say, "The world is better served by open, honest discussion of issues"
let's have less snide barbs shall we?

Dear All,


As I enjoy MITM now, with a movement from one of the Brandenburg Concertos, I post simply to clarify that there was nothing intentionally snide in my post, nor is there ever in anything I post. And I meant the remark about the small audience for Nova more in sorrow than in any other sense: it is a matter of regret that such audacious programmes do not attract audiences commensurate with the objective interest and integrity of their content. I was dealing with what we might call "actually existing RTE Lyric FM", rather than a Hegelian fully-synthesised end state.

Since it is not of direct relevance to this thread, I shall dilate on the substance of the issue on the Nova site.

('Mill, Music & Melon' just now in 'Musically Speaking': I cannot imagine what it could be!)


Hugo Brady Brown

Almaviva

Hugo Brady Brown : "I pay little or no heed to the outpourings of holders of 2.2 degrees or worse".

Hugo, is this snobbery or inverted snobbery? I am getting confused on this one (despite having the requisite degrees to qualify to converse with you).

HugoBradyBrown

Almaviva wrote: »

Hugo Brady Brown : "I pay little or no heed to the outpourings of holders of 2.2 degrees or worse".

Hugo, is this snobbery or inverted snobbery? I am getting confused on this one (despite having the requisite degrees to qualify to converse with you).

That is an emphatic rejoinder, my dear Almaviva. However, since I am myself widely known for being untainted by snobbery of any kind (one of my most attractive qualities, if I say so myself), I find it hard to come to a conclusion on your categorizing question. But while being ill-equipped to engage in logic chopping of this kind, and being personally disinclined to descend to it, I would go so far as to suggest that qualitative discrimination between opinions on the basis of the soundness of their grounds is not merely permissible in civilized debate, such as we are having here, it is a duty.


Hugo Brady Brown

MadsL

Hmm... as one who did too much partying and lazily scraped a Third, perhaps I shouldn't speak too loudly... ah well, here we go. In sotto voce perhaps...

As I enjoy MITM now, with a movement from one of the Brandenburg Concertos, I post simply to clarify that there was nothing intentionally snide in my post, nor is there ever in anything I post.

In which case I withdraw my allegation if it is unfounded...I hope we debate further without such misunderstandings...

And I meant the remark about the small audience for Nova more in sorrow than in any other sense: it is a matter of regret that such audacious programmes do not attract audiences commensurate with the objective interest and integrity of their content. .

My base point, which you have not addressed directly, is that it is nigh on impossible to grow an audience based on the output from one hour a week, and that Nova should be restored to 3 hours a week. It shocks me that Lyric Management cannot fend off the lowest comment denominator trend to become a defacto "easy listening" station.

I was dealing with what we might call "actually existing RTE Lyric FM", rather than a Hegelian fully-synthesised end state.

Well, as we are dealing with "actually existing RTE Lyric FM", you might note that your view of Lyric FM's view of Nova (!) has been roundly corrected by the presenter of the programme. Nova - as Bernard Clarke points out - unlike MITM, "attracts a consistant audience".

Finally, such a pity you did not take up my Vivaldi bet..I'm guessing you are aware that there is a dedicated CD player in the MITM studio marked "Marty" preloaded at all times with the "Four Seasons". Perhaps Marty, like Gay, has favoured accomodation whilst travelling?

HugoBradyBrown

MadsL wrote: »

Hmm... as one who did too much partying and lazily scraped a Third, perhaps I shouldn't speak too loudly... ah well, here we go. In sotto voce perhaps...



In which case I withdraw my allegation if it is unfounded...I hope we debate further without such misunderstandings...




My base point, which you have not addressed directly, is that it is nigh on impossible to grow an audience based on the output from one hour a week, and that Nova should be restored to 3 hours a week. It shocks me that Lyric Management cannot fend off the lowest comment denominator trend to become a defacto "easy listening" station.



Well, as we are dealing with "actually existing RTE Lyric FM", you might note that your view of Lyric FM's view of Nova (!) has been roundly corrected by the presenter of the programme. Nova - as Bernard Clarke points out - unlike MITM, "attracts a consistant audience".

Finally, such a pity you did not take up my Vivaldi bet..I'm guessing you are aware that there is a dedicated CD player in the MITM studio marked "Marty" preloaded at all times with the "Four Seasons". Perhaps Marty, like Gay, has favoured accomodation whilst travelling?

Thanks MadsL for the comment; I never see any reason for any of us to do other than exchange thoughts here in the most well-intentioned way, and to grope our way towards seeing each other's point of view (while, of course, never losing sight of the fact that the other fellow is almost certainly wrong, totally wrong.). And I am always wary of a wager; you never know how it will go. And so, yes, Marty did play something yesterday by the Red Priest or il Prete Rosso, as Vivaldi is sometimes called: the 2nd movement of 'Winter' from the 4 Seasons played by the lovely Anne-Sophie Mutter. (And, musically speaking, it is a good name for a hotel, isn't it?) But, as you will recall Marty saying, this is not his personal favourite piece by the Red Priest; his own favourite is Spring. But isn't Vivaldi a joy in himself? No great shakes in terms of harmonic variety or complexity most of the time, of course, but he gives the air a good rattle and the tunes are untroubling and harmless. Even Sebastian Bach saw such merit in some of his output as to work to improve it.

The issue of the relative weight given to MITM and to Nova in the schedule is interesting, in one sense. But I think that there will be a considerable cross-over between the Nova listenership and the MITM listeners, since Nova is devoted to advancing music as a research tool into exploratory areas - boldly going where no man has gone before, for one reason or another - while MITM is going down well-trodden paths, and appealing to everyone right across the board - or Boards. And nocturnal concentrated listening with a glass of sherry in hand, the hound at one's feet and the crackling of thorns under the pot in the fireplace is a different kettle of fish altogether from the experience of listening to MITM while trying to get the Gaggia to surrender just one cup of cappuccino in the busy morning before we head to our honest labours.

MITM runs for three hours, but I know many people enjoy less than one third of the entire segment, due to other cares and concerns at the time of broadcast. (I believe it is possible to listen back if one has missed part of it, but it has always defeated me on the iMac, for some reason; perhaps it's for Windows only.) Nova, by contrast, will expect at least to hold its initial listenership throughout the segment (and fingers crossed in The Blue studio that it does!). Bernard has reported that the number of listeners to Nova actually climbs during its broadcast (perhaps as the starting time of The Blue approaches).

I believe that the audience for Nova in a country like Ireland is bound to be modest, and incapable of significant growth, at least until Music is introduced into schools as a serious subject. I believe that impending changes in the organisation of the secondary school curriculum are likely to impel even more students to undertake other easier or more obviously vocational subjects: business, science or home economics. Moreover, the economic collapse will also have disinclined parents from tolerating their offspring undertaking airy-fairy courses that, they might imagine, would fit their darlings for little more than busking in Leicester Square, or worse. Until the audience is educated first, it is hard to see how it can be built.

Now, of course, if contemporary composers give up their artistic probity and begin to blur the distinction between art music and the commercial music of the Consciousness Industry(1), there is a possibility that a young audience may be prepared to take an interest in such cross-over material. However, I think that we could not see that as being in the line of succession from Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Stockhausen and Bartok, or even from Bernstein and Sondheim; it will be more in the lineage of Lloyd Webber, of lounge music or of 'Beautiful Music'. 'Fair dinkum', as our Australian friends say. But while all these genres and inter-genres clearly have their honoured place in our affections, I think it is excessive to expect RTE Lyric FM to be a cultural shaper of its audience by guiding them towards what the market is going to seduce them into paying for in any case.

A spontaneous interest in the austerity of seriously intended modern music is always going to be modest in distribution in the population; in truth, it is generally only the superficial tunefulness and familiarity of most popular classical music that gains it a hearing from anyone but those deeply immersed in the study of music. The popularity of single movements over complete works shows us that the appetite for pugnacious, ardent engagement with serious classical music of any age is spread quite thinly across the population.

[Partying has its place, of course, (though I was so rarely invited that I was able to concentrate fully on reading for my degree) and a Gentleman's Third from a good school can be leveraged astutely, perhaps by getting into a stockbroking firm or something undemanding of the kind, particularly if family connections are available; I always advise people not to give up hope, at least until the possibility of marrying well and lucratively has been finally discounted.]

In, as always, the most constructive and cooperative spirit,


Hugo Brady Brown

1. Enzensberger, Hans Magnus (1974) The Consciousness Industry; On Literature, Politics and the Media, New York: Seabury Press.

FlutterinBantam

:eek:

All I can say is


Jaysus.

MadsL

@HBB

Sir, I salute you. A superb reply.

Sadly, as I'm currently gathering my belongings for exile in the (slightly uncivilised) New World, I'm up against time pressure and will have to reply later. I'm sorry to hear your Gaggia has to be coaxed in the mornings - I have a Jura machine - you may find the Swiss rather better when it comes to mechanics and leave the Italians to something else, Opera perhaps?

Speaking of which whilst The New Mexico Symphony has filed for Chapter 7 bankrupt recently, I'm consoled by the Sante Fe Opera; sadly it lacks the bravery of Wexford but makes up for it in climate and location. The wettest November I ever spent I think was at Wexford...damn shame they didn't keep the summer dates whilst the Opera House was being built.

However just briefly - I caught my 14 year daughter listening to one of Bernard's respected composers that "blur the distinction between art music and the commercial music of the Consciousness Industry". The Irish composer, Richard David James aka "Aphex Twin";

She was listening to this on Halloween of course - as it is easily the scariest damn piece of music I ever heard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Az_7U0-cK0

However, Mr James is equally capable of the sparsely beautiful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0vu-W0CvFs

I highlight these to show that perhaps the youth audience is not going down the road of "the lineage of Lloyd Webber, of lounge music or of 'Beautiful Music'." rather into the surreal, dark side of musical imagination. I trust "punk's not dead".

Then again - this child had been exposed to music from A - Z, and from 1400 to 2011; I fear for a generation whose musical experience is controlled by the mainstream media.

Oh and Hugo, whilst I chuckle at the idea of posting Aphex Twin videos in the MITM thread; shouldn't we take this back to the Nova thread?

HugoBradyBrown

Yes, indeed, MadsL, posting it here may frighten people!. Perhaps you can duplicate the post on the other side, where the Nova crowd can appreciate it. Lovely stuff, though, and hopeful for the future of 'classical music' as a living art form. It is so important to avoid the stultification that overcame the art music of some other cultures around the world.

The summer in Johnstown Castle was in some ways the best Wexford ever, but it did make the winter seem to come in earlier than usual as a result.

And I hope that the American audience for MITM will be inflated by at least one for the duration of your trip. I imagine that Marty would welcome a bulletin on matters germane to the show!


Hugo Brady Brown

MadsL wrote: »

@HBB

Sir, I salute you. A superb reply.

Sadly, as I'm currently gathering my belongings for exile in the (slightly uncivilised) New World, I'm up against time pressure and will have to reply later. I'm sorry to hear your Gaggia has to be coaxed in the mornings - I have a Jura machine - you may find the Swiss rather better when it comes to mechanics and leave the Italians to something else, Opera perhaps?

Speaking of which whilst The New Mexico Symphony has filed for Chapter 7 bankrupt recently, I'm consoled by the Sante Fe Opera; sadly it lacks the bravery of Wexford but makes up for it in climate and location. The wettest November I ever spent I think was at Wexford...damn shame they didn't keep the summer dates whilst the Opera House was being built.

However just briefly - I caught my 14 year daughter listening to one of Bernard's respected composers that "blur the distinction between art music and the commercial music of the Consciousness Industry". The Irish composer, Richard David James aka "Aphex Twin";

She was listening to this on Halloween of course - as it is easily the scariest damn piece of music I ever heard...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Az_7U0-cK0

However, Mr James is equally capable of the sparsely beautiful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0vu-W0CvFs

I highlight these to show that perhaps the youth audience is not going down the road of "the lineage of Lloyd Webber, of lounge music or of 'Beautiful Music'." rather into the surreal, dark side of musical imagination. I trust "punk's not dead".

Then again - this child had been exposed to music from A - Z, and from 1400 to 2011; I fear for a generation whose musical experience is controlled by the mainstream media.

Oh and Hugo, whilst I chuckle at the idea of posting Aphex Twin videos in the MITM thread; shouldn't we take this back to the Nova thread?

mbur

@MadsL

In an effort to capture a younger audience, my guess is that Marty would love to squeeze the Harmonium thing in between AA roadwatch and the weather. But that 'come to daddy' thing has no chance. The intro is too long. The audience might think Marty had somehow wandered onto the streets of fair Limeric and that would never do.

HugoBradyBrown

mbur wrote: »

@MadsL

In an effort to capture a younger audience, my guess is that Marty would love to squeeze the Harmonium thing in between AA roadwatch and the weather. But that 'come to daddy' thing has no chance. The intro is too long. The audience might think Marty had somehow wandered onto the streets of fair Limeric and that would never do.

Dear All,

I hesitate to dispel fondly held beliefs. I often think that, having been disabused of their illusory belief in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Father Christmas, people may not be resilient enough to bear any more. So, for those who don't want to know, look away now.




My researches have revealed that MITM is generally not broadcast from Limerick! I too had been taken in, but as an earnest and loyal listener, I have applied myself to absorbing all shards of evidence that have come my way. For example, Marty doesn't dilate on the view over the Shannon to the Clare Hills, as, say, Lorcan does. And here and there in the course of a programme Mart will make a reference to something that occurred in his presence in Dublin on the previous evening. Bletchley Park is in the ha'peny place, of course, in comparison with this sleuthing.

This is, of course, not to say the programme is not as excellent from Radio Centre in Montrose as it would be from Cornmarket Square. I do sometimes wonder, though, if all the biscuits posted to Mart in Limerick by his grateful fans have staled by the time they have been redirected to him in the metropolis. As that great old song has it, Limerick, You're a Lady, alright, but not for Marty in the Morning!

I have a suspicion, though, that Gay may go down to Limerick on a Sunday, possibly on that colossal motorcycle that came his way from those popular crooners the evening he retired from RTE. But that, as they say, is off-topic.



Hugo Brady Brown