Requiem to music

[vaneramos]

CBC Radio 2 is changing its programming away from Classical music. A top hits Classical program will still run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the fabulous Bill Richardson will host opera and concert segments on weekends (who listens to radio on weekends?), but jazz, blues, world and singer-songwriter genres will govern the morning and drive-home time blocks. Evening time slots already went to hell a year ago.

Besides being ad-free, CBC has provided thoughtful commentary and interviews with various artists. Over the years, I have gathered inestimable appreciation and knowledge of music. I remember, for instance, how my awareness and love of Ralph Vaughan Williams' works arose from CBC.

How am I supposed to tune my clock alarm for that delicious half hour in bed each morning? Jazz and blues is alright, but not then. The new programs will begin on Tuesday. It makes me sick. From now on, the world will be colder and drier, the air less sweet.

At least I have today, working alone in the shop with nothing to distract me, to absorb one final day of the best Classical programming that will ever hit Canadian airwaves.

Comments

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

My dander isn't up, but I'm sad to see the loss of something incomparable.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

But that's obviously not what their decision is based upon.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Ratings. I'm not arguing with their decision. I am sad about losing something I enjoy. My musical tastes have become eclectic, but it was 19th Century European music that captivated me in the first place.

[songdogmi.livejournal.com]

I've heard that comment, stated more snarkily by someone in the CBC itself (reported in either the Globe and Mail or another large paper, months ago when the changes were announced). But it's worth noting that a whole lot of that "old, white European music" was played by Canadian ensembles and soloists, either live or recorded—the CBC Radio Orchestra, the OSM, orchestras from other major cities, Jon Kimura Parker, Angela Hewitt, etc. The CBC also aired a lot of music composed by Canadians; they're not household names, so they'd never get played, say, in the States, but they got played on the CBC. For what's called a European art form, the CBC made it very Canadian.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Yes, and to my previous comment, "My musical tastes have become eclectic," I should add that CBC Radio 2 is at least partly responsible for that. It contextualized all kinds of music and performers, and expanded my appreciation outward.