# How Much Variety Does Your Classical Radio Station Have?



## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

My local radio station, KBAQ, plays what I consider to be a good variety of composers. I am curious to see how this compares to the experience of other people on this site.

I looked at last Friday's playlist, which seems to be a fair representation of the station's usual broadcasting practice, and I listed every composer played during that 24-hour period. A number in parentheses means that that many pieces were played by that composer during the day. The composers that are unfamiliar to me or are not known by one name by a lot of classical music fans I put at the end after Copland.

TANGENT: Are any of those composers worth checking out?

Ravel
Wagner (2)
Vivaldi (5)
Rossini (4)
Haydn (5)
Bach (5)
Elgar
Dukas
Mozart (6)
Boccherini
Schumann (2)
A. Scarlatti
Saint-Saens
Tallis
Beethoven (7)
Puccini
Rachmaninoff
Tchaikovsky
Purcell
Verdi
Albinoni (2)
Liszt
Massenet
Handel (5)
Rimsky-Korsakov (2)
Schubert (2)
Mendelssohn (2)
Paganini
Shostakovich (2)
Bruch
Mahler
Korngold
Brahms (2)
Grieg
Satie
Dvorak (2)
Telemann
Gershwin
Albeniz
Chopin (2)
Debussy
Prokofiev
Faure
Vaughan Williams
Berlioz
Khachaturian
J.C. Bach
Corelli
Janacek
Borodin
Copland

John Field
Etienne Mehul
James Oswald
Carl Stamitz
Franz Beck
John Lunn
Emmanuel Chabrier
Mark O'Connor
Josef Suk
Franz von Suppe
Dave Roylance/Bob Galvin
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (2)
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Hamish MacCunn
Emmanuel Chabrier
Jacques Aubert
Franz Xaver Dussek
Johann Quantz
Hamilton Harty
Alfredo Catalani
Marin Marais
Henryk Wieniawski

This seems to be a pretty good mix of playing popular composers and less familiar names, putting something that is likely to be new to the listener about once an hour. I did not put all the titles in so as not to clutter the post even more, but the pieces played are not all warhorses, either. There are popular ones like Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in there, but there are lesser known works like one of Mozart's divertimentos in there, too.

Please share your thoughts and experiences. What kind of radio station do you have? Would you recommend it to others? Why?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

bharbeke said:


> What kind of radio station do you have?


The worst kind:

1. A penchant for playing a single movement or section of complete works. 
2. A lot of crossover music.
3. Overall, a dislike of any works that might be considered to have a profound element.


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

The station in my area plays everything from Renaissance through some modern. Relatively few Renaissance works are played and only the most popular modern composers (Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Ravel, Prokofiev, etc.). There are occasional works by contemporary composers. They do play rather obscure works such as very early Mozart symphonies or relatively unknown composers.


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## Guest (Aug 17, 2015)

Radio 3 , BBC
UK, 

No adverts.

Good mix I think, though maybe more of the older, more established names.


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## D Smith (Sep 13, 2014)

WQXR. Pretty good mix and I like the DJ's generally.

Of the composers at the end of your list that you were unfamiliar with; of those I know well, I'd recommend -

John Field
Carl Stamitz
Emmanuel Chabrier
Mark O'Connor (contemporary)
Josef Suk
Marin Marais


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The public radio network here, supported to a very great extent by donations, serves a huge land area of southern Oregon and northern California in which there is not a single large metropolitan area. But the classical music programming, running nearly round the clock, is of a diversity and quality many large cities would envy. I hear complaints about a lack of adventurousness, but I've experienced much worse elsewhere. I've made the acquaintance of a lot of interesting music by turning on the radio.

Now if they'd only replace that gabby announcer who emphasizes words in a sentence by lowering rather than raising her voice as if she's confiding a secret, so that if I'm in the bathroom - or just mentally tuned out because I'm tired of listening to her - I miss the one thing I'm waiting to hear, the composer's name.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

I am listening on radio now a string quartet by Haydn opus 77. It is the ebu nightly broadcasts provided by BBC. Yesterday i heard Bruckners third symphony very nice.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

My local radio station is AWESOME! Check out what even today's program was!

http://www.wbjc.com/2015/playlists/playlist-aug1715/

They played Glazunov twice! There are 4 announcers per day in shifts, so each person has their picks. The guy in the morning (from 5-10AM) is a Russian nut and also fan of many other obscure composers. Back when I was in high school waking up at 6AM, it wasn't uncommon to wake up to Glazunov, Liadov, Taneyev, Arensky, and the whole bunch of silver composers besides the golden age ones. Look what he played this morning, all the goodies! ^_^ And then in the afternoon is another Glazunov fan, and she makes sure to play something for rush hour or for dinner a lot. And those 2 in particular have been trying to promote his music in the past few weeks. He was play 5 times on his birthday too.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

That's a nice program for one day, but what's with Shostakovich? Just one Op. 87 Prelude and Fugue set out of 24 - not good.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Radio stations are naturally going to play excerpts, as some movements or snippets of pieces can stand alone, and this allows them to program in more pieces during the day. I am okay with the practice in moderation; as long as full pieces are played the majority of the time, it is okay to play a popular section or the suite version of a piece.

Sets of preludes and fugues, and other collections of shorter pieces, are judgment calls. The composer may have published them as a set for economic/publishing reasons, but they usually sound just fine independent of each other. In other cases, there may be an artistic reason to play them all together.

Thanks for the link, Huilunsoittaja! That looks like an exciting, vibrant radio station to listen to.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

bharbeke said:


> Radio stations are naturally going to play excerpts, as some movements or snippets of pieces can stand alone, and this allows them to program in more pieces during the day.


By all means, more pieces per unit of time is what we need; quantity wins the day. I don't see anything natural about it; it's a decision made by programmers.


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## rspader (May 14, 2014)

Our local station, KING-FM Seattle, plays a good variety but I have to admit to listening to it mostly in my car. At home I plug my iPad into the stereo and listen to WQXR (NY), WETA (DC, where I lived for a while) and BBC Radio 3. "Local" radio stations are becoming less important due to the internet -- not necessarily a good thing but it is what it is.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Our station here has pretty good programming, and mostly complete works -- even once in a while some of those gargantuan symphonies by you-know-who and you-know-who. But the station is not very adventurous with respect to works of the 20th century and beyond. It's on the web in real time and can be listened to anywhere.

http://www.kusc.org


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## Tedski (Jul 8, 2015)

Here is today's playlist for WRR 101.1 Dallas (which is owned and operated by the city of Dallas). For me, it has a good mix of the overplayed, familiar but not overplayed, and lesser known and unknown works.

During the day, they stick to single movements out of larger pieces. Between 10pm and 6am they will sometimes play complete longer works, such as Mozart's Posthorn Serenade, which has 7 movements lasting almost 45 minutes.

6:00am Brahms, Johannes: Symphony #1 in c (Op 68) - 3.
van Zweden, Jaap/Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
Brilliant Class: L 99946

6:08am Handel, George Frideric: "Alexander's Feast" Concerto Grosso in C HWV 318
Gardiner, John Eliot/English Baroque Soloists
Philips: 422053

6:21am WILLIAMS, JOHN: Raiders of the Lost Ark - March
Black, Stanley/London Symphony Orchestra
MCA: 25192

6:31am Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Piano Quartet #1 in g (K 478) - 1. Allegro
Zacharias, Christian, piano
Peter Zimmermann, Frank, violi
Wick, Tilmann, cello
Zimmermann, Tabea, viola
Angel/EMI: 68507

6:42am GOUNOD: Symphony #1 in D - 1. Allegro molto
Marriner, Sir Neville/Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Philips: 462125

6:52am RICHTER, FRANZ XAVER: Grande Sinfonia No. 1 in B-flat Major - 1. Allegro assai
Hakkinen, Aapo/Helsinki Baroque Orchestra
Naxos: 557818

7:00am Holst, Gustav: Planets (Op 32) - 6. Uranus the Magician
Oundjian, Peter/Toronto Symphony Orchestra
TSO: 2011

7:09am Dvorak, Antonin: Hussite Overture (Op 67) "Husitska"
Suitner, Otmar/Staatskapelle Berlin
ArsVivendi: 127

7:22am ELGAR, Edward: Salut d'Amour
Turku, Rudens, violin
Urabe, Yumiko, piano
Avie: 2223

7:30am TELEMANN, Georg Phillip: Tafelmusic II: 3. Concerto for 3 Violins in F
Goebel, Reinhard/Musica Antiqua Koln
Archiv: 427619

7:44am Goldman, E.F.: Bugles and Drums
Deitrick Jr., LTC David/United States Military Academy Band
USAF: 1998

7:50am Haydn, Franz Joseph: Symphony #101 "Clock" in D: 1. Adagio; Presto
Slatkin, Leonard/Philharmonia Orchestra
RCA: 68426

8:00am Massenet, Jules: Meditation from "Thais"
Mutter, Anne-Sophie, violin
Orkis, Lambert, piano
Deutsche Grammo: 4792949

8:10am Britten, Benjamin: Gloriana - Courtly Dances
Boughton, William/English Symphony Orchestra
Nimbus: 5295

8:20am Beethoven, Ludwig van: Piano Sonata #8 in C Minor "Pathetique" - 2.
Yundi, piano
Deutsche Grammophon: B00179698

8:29am Saint-Saens, Camille: Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso (Op 28)
Wordsworth, Barry/Royal Philharmonic
Jansen, Janine, violin
Decca: 475011

8:38am BACH, J.C.: Trio Sonata in C
Rampal, Jean-Pierre, flute
Stern, Isaac, violin
Spaeter, Matthias, lute
Rostropovich, Mstislav, cello
Sony Classical: 44568

8:52am Brahms, Johannes: Serenade #2 in A (Op 16) - 5. Rondo Allegro
Spering, Andreas/Capela Augustina
Naxos: 777300

9:00am Handel, George Frideric: Concerto Grosso Op 3/6 in D HWV 317
Linde, Hans-Martin/Linde-Consort
Virgin: 61162

9:13am Rachmaninoff, Sergei: Piano Concerto #2 - 3.
Shostakovich, Maxim/London Symphony Orchestra
Sultanov, Alexei, piano
Apex: 40835

9:29am Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Marriage of Figaro (K 492) - Overture
Bernstein, Leonard/New York Philharmonic
CBS: 46267

9:34am Schumann, Robert: Violin Concerto in D minor 2.
Mueller, Christoph-Mathias/Gottinger Symphonie Orchestra
Pine, Rachel Barton, violin
Cedille: 90000144

9:40am Bruckner, Anton: Symphony #6 in A: 1. Maestoso
Solti, Sir Georg/Chicago Symphony Orchestra
London: 417389

10:00am WILLIAMS, JOHN: Star Wars: Main Theme
Gerhardt, Charles/National Philharmonic Orchestra
RCA: 2698

10:06am Bizet, Georges: Fair Maid of Perth: Suite
Barenboim, Daniel/Orchestre de Paris
Angel/EMI: 64869

10:18am Tartini, Giuseppe: Trumpet Concerto in D
Ling, Jahja/Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Smedvig, Rolf, trumpet
Telarc: 80232

10:34am Wagner, Richard: Die Meistersinger - Prelude to Act 1
Ozawa, Seiji/Berlin Philharmonic
Philips: 426271

10:45am VANHAL: Symphony in D (Bryan D2)
Mallon, Kevin/Toronto Camerata
Naxos: 557483

11:00am Paganini, Niccolo: Violin Concerto #2 in b (Op 7) "La Campanella" - 2. Adagio
Orchestra of the Carlo Felice Theater in
Quarta, Massimo, Paganini's vi
Dynamic: A 260

11:11am Hovhaness, Alan: Symphony # 2 "Mysterious Mountain" (Op 132)
Lopez-Cobos, Jesus/Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Telarc: 80462

11:28am Haydn, Franz Joseph: Symphony # 3 in G
Shepherd, Adrian/Cantilena
Chandos: 8737

11:47am Bach, Johann Sebastian: Toccata in D (BWV 912)
Salle, Lise de la, piano
Naive: V 5006

12:00pm Copland, Aaron: The Heiress Suite reconstructed by Arnold Freed from score
Slatkin, Leonard/St Louis Symphony Orchestra
RCA: 61699

12:08pm Berlioz, Hector: Royal Hunt & Storm
Karajan, Herbert von/Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus
Angel/EMI: 69465

12:23pm Vivaldi, Antonio: Four Seasons (Op 8) - Autumn, RV 293
Jansen Ensemble
Jansen, Janine, violin
Decca: B0005298

12:34pm Faure, Gabriel: Pellias and Melisande Suite (Op. 80): 1. Prelude
Ratner, Tanya/River Oaks Chamber Orchestra
ROCO: 2006

12:40pm Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Clarinet Concerto in A (K 622) - 1. Allegro
von der Goltz, Gottf/Freiburger Barockorchester
Coppola, Lorenzo, clarinet
Harmonia Mundi: 901980

1:00pm Beethoven, Ludwig van: Piano Concerto #1 in C (Op 15)
Eschenbach, Christoph/Orchestre de Paris
Lang Lang, piano
Deutsche Grammo: B0008725

1:00pm PROGRAM: The Big [email protected]

1:44pm GOLDMARK: Violin Concerto #1 in A Minor - Finale
Schwarz, Gerard/Seattle Symphony
Hu, Nai-Yuan, violin
Delos: 3156

2:00pm Schumann, Robert: Toccata (Op 7)
Deferne, Sylviane, piano
CBC: 1078

2:07pm Graf, Friedrich: Flute Concerto in D Major
Moesus, Johannes/Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra
van Riet, Gaby, flute
CPO: 777 724

2:27pm GOUNOD: Funeral March of a Marionette
Paray, Paul/Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Mercury: 434332

2:31pm Bach, Johann Sebastian: Trio Sonata #5 in C (BWV 529)
Musica Pacifica
Virgin: 45192

2:44pm Kaska, Kevin: The Lake Isle of Innisfree (for RVW)
Wilson, Allan/Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Denouement: 1009

3:00pm Donizetti, Gaetano: Don Pasquale: Sinfonia
Chung, Myung-Whun/Orchestra of the National Academy of San
Deutsche Grammo: 471566

3:07pm ALBINONI, Tomaso: Sonata a 5 in g Op 2/6
I Musici
Philips: 432115

3:15pm Wagner, Richard: Grosser Festmarsch (American Centennial)
Howarth, Elgar/Philip Jones Brass Ensemble
London: 414149

3:34pm ROZSA: Ben-Hur Suite
Alwyn, Kenneth/City of Prague Philharmonic
Silva: 1056

3:44pm Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Requiem: Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communio
Malgoire, Jean-Claude/Grand Ecurie/Chambre du Roy
Soli
CBS: 44904

4:00pm Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich: Symphony #4 in F Minor - 3.
Jurowski, Vladimir/London Philharmonic Orchestra
LPO: 0064-1

4:10pm Paganini, Niccolo: Variations on "I Palpiti," by Rossini
Yablonsky, Dmitry/Russian Philharmonic Orchestra
Pochekin, Ivan, violin
Naxos: 570487

4:22pm Beethoven, Ludwig van: Symphony # 5 in c (Op 67) - 1. Allegro con brio
Rattle, Sir Simon/Vienna Philharmonic
Angel/EMI: 57165

4:29pm Shostakovich, Dmitri: Symphony # 5 in D Minor, Op. 47 - Finale
Gergiev, Valery/Kirov Orchestra
Philips: B0002487

4:45pm Handel, George Frideric: Concerto Grosso Op 6/ 9 in F HWV 327
Pommer, Max/New Bach Colleg. Mus. Leipzig
Capriccio: 10023

5:00pm Bizet, Georges: Symph. in C 1. Allegro vivo
West, Martin/San Francisco Ballet Orchestra
Reference: RR-131

5:12pm Chopin, Frédéric: Prelude in D-flat Major, Op. 28 #15 "Raindrop"
Peñalver. Ricardo
Tempus: 10049

5:22pm Bach, Johann Sebastian: Keyboard Concerto #4 in A (BWV 1055)
Pinnock, Trevor/The English Concert
Reichenberg, David, oboe d'amo
Archiv: 413731

5:37pm Shore, Howard: Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, Themes from
Kunzel, Erich/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra
Telarc: 80664

5:43pm Schubert, Franz: Three Piano Pieces (D 946) - 1.
Brendel, Alfred, piano
Phillips: 422075

6:00pm Dvorak, Antonin: Scherzo capriccioso (Op 66)
Previn, Andre/Los Angeles Philharmonic
Telarc: 80206

6:12pm Vivaldi, Antonio: Violin Concerto in a (RV 358) (Op 9/5) from "La Cetra"
Curnyn, Christian/Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Benedetti, Nicola, violin
Decca: 4764342

6:20pm Berlioz, Hector: Les Troyens - The Trojans at Carthage (ballet music)
Bonynge, Richard/National Philharmonic Orchestra
London: 411898

6:34pm Stravinsky, Igor: Piano Sonata (1924)
Lin, Jenny, piano
Steinway: 30028

6:45pm Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: String Quartet #14 in G "Spring" 3. Andante cantabile (Haydn #1)
Klenke Quartet
Klenke, Annegret, violin
Hartmann, Beate, violin
Kaltenhauser, Ruth, cello
Uhlemann, Yvonne, viola
Profil: 4029

7:00pm PROGRAM: Exploring Music
more at http://exploringmusic.wfmt.com/

8:00pm FUX, JOHANN JOSEPH: Rondeau
Goebel, Reinhard/Musica Antiqua Koln
Challenge Class: L 72032

8:05pm RODRIGO, Joaquin: Concierto de Aranjuez - 2. Adagio
Litton, Andrew/Royal Philharmonic
Parkening, Christopher, guitar
Angel/EMI: 56418

8:19pm Beethoven, Ludwig van: Piano Sonata #3 in C (Op 2/3)
O'Conor, John, piano
Telarc: 80214

8:51pm Hubay, Jeno: Violin Concerto No. 3 - 4.Finale
Froment, Louis de/Orch. Radio Luxembourg
Rosand, Aaron, violin
VOX: PVT7195

9:00pm Copland, Aaron: Quiet City (1940)
Foss, Lukas/Buffalo Philharmonic
Vox Allegr: 8155

9:10pm Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: Concerto for Flute and Harp in C (K 299) - 2. Andantino
Menuhin, Sir Yehudi/Philharmonia Orchestra
Shaffer, Elaine, flute
Costello, Marilyn, harp
Angel/EMI: 66267

9:24pm Paganini, Niccolo: Violin Concerto #3 in E 1. Andantino - Allegro marziale
Dittrich, Michael/Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Rosza, Erno, violin
Naxos: 554396

9:51pm BIBER, HEINRICH I.F.: Violin Sonata I: Variatio/Finale
Romanesca
Harmonia Mundi: 907134


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

Nice to see a station that plays Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Something for everyone! 

Sirius XM's Classical station seems to play a lot of complete symphonies and concertos, although it doesn't go in for Moderns much.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Tedski said:


> Here is today's playlist for WRR 101.1 Dallas (which is owned and operated by the city of Dallas). For me, it has a good mix of the overplayed, familiar but not overplayed, and lesser known and unknown works.
> 
> During the day, they stick to single movements out of larger pieces. Between 10pm and 6am they will sometimes play complete longer works, such as Mozart's Posthorn Serenade, which has 7 movements lasting almost 45 minutes.


One complete longer work in one day. That is too little.
I feel sorry for you and the other people in Dallas.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

GreenMamba said:


> Nice to see a station that plays Raiders of the Lost Ark, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Something for everyone!


Or 'not much for anyone'. I thought the playlist was lame. With so many single movements and movie music, I'll take a pass.


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## Faustian (Feb 8, 2015)

KenOC said:


> Our station here has pretty good programming, and mostly complete works -- even once in a while some of those gargantuan symphonies by you-know-who and you-know-who. But the station is not very adventurous with respect to works of the 20th century and beyond. It's on the web in real time and can be listened to anywhere. http://www.kusc.org/


Not generally very adventurous no, especially during the day time hours (although you will get an occasional William Schuman symphony or something), but I listen to Jim Svejda's week-night program fairly regularly and he will dip into 20th century works quite often. Off the top of my head I remember hearing Stravinsky's The Flood, Gerald Finzi's clarinet concerto, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, and many others on his show. He also plays lots of film music from the 20/21st century, and has current composers as guests from time to time (I heard John Corigliano on there not too long ago).

Then of course there's the Modern Times program that broadcasts from 10pm-12am PST on Saturday nights that exclusively plays 20th and 21st century works.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Ireland's state-funded station RTÉ Lyric FM is quite varied.
Mornings and evening drivetime shows are fairly mainstream, presenter-driven shows with short pieces and single movements, with larger full works generally reserved for an evening "concert" style program. 
Sundays there's a very good sacred-music show in the morning - with a consistent format of pieces in chronological order, covering from medieval to modern - and a new-music program at night. Saturday night you get a complete opera. There's also shorter programs of jazz, traditional music, film music, and so on.


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## gardibolt (May 22, 2015)

Our classical station uses Beethoven Network from 9 PM to 9 AM which just smacks of laziness to me. OTOH, yesterday's playlist of non-feed material includes Pergolesi, Glazunov, Clara Schumann, Karl Joachim Andersen, Philip Glass, Giovanni Bottesini, Johann Rosenmuller, Gordon Jacob, Dussek, Clara Kathleen Rogers, and Francesco Geminiani as well as the usual suspects. Really a broader cross-section than I was expecting. So far as I can tell, all complete works, not excerpts.


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## Tedski (Jul 8, 2015)

Sloe said:


> One complete longer work in one day. That is too little.
> I feel sorry for you and the other people in Dallas.


It's just as well. As I only listen to WRR when I am in the car, I'm usually not tuned in long enough to hear a whole work all the way through, anyway.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Tedski said:


> It's just as well. As I only listen to WRR when I am in the car, I'm usually not tuned in long enough to hear a whole work all the way through, anyway.


I listen to radio for several hours and like longer orchestral works.
By the way it irritates me a lot to only hear a movement from a symphony I want to hear all of it or nothing.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I rarely tune to the classical station in LA (KUSC), but when I do, I am usually disappointed.

They very rarely stray from the usual suspects of centuries past (Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Hayden, Tchaikovsky, etc). 

The only consistent exception is a show on Friday from 10 PM-12 AM called "Modern Times". But even then, they play it safe.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

In defense of my lousy local classical music station, I do realize that most of the audience is not in the 'serious classical music enthusiast' category. It's just not the right way for me. With little exception, I program my musical selections for private listening.


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## Sloe (May 9, 2014)

Simon Moon said:


> The only consistent exception is a show on Friday from 10 PM-12 AM called "Modern Times". But even then, they play it safe.


What modern music do they play?


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## Tedski (Jul 8, 2015)

Simon Moon said:


> I rarely tune to the classical station in LA (KUSC), but when I do, I am usually disappointed.
> 
> They very rarely stray from the usual suspects of centuries past (Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Hayden, Tchaikovsky, etc).
> 
> The only consistent exception is a show on Friday from 10 PM-12 AM called "Modern Times". But even then, they play it safe.


When I lived in the area (I left in '88) KUSC was a decent alternative to KFAC, the top-40 classical station. I guess you just have to follow the money, when it comes to any commercial enterprise.


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## Winged Wolf (Aug 22, 2015)

Radio here is meh. Sadly, the fact that many radio stations have to... call in I guess at the top of the hour (where they go, "This is W something something something, number AM/FM) means that works over an hour long pretty much never get played.

I do think, however, that the Music Choice stations on cable are very good. Two classical music channels, one that will perform full works (I even heard Mahler 2 a few days ago), the other performing movements of works. And they seem to have decent variety.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

Our only option for Classical music is our local radio station KUAT which originates from our university campus (University of Arizona).

For greater listening I subscribe to a popular streaming radio station. And for organ, there is a site called Organlive.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

bharbeke said:


> My local radio station, KBAQ, plays what I consider to be a good variety of composers. I am curious to see how this compares to the experience of other people on this site.
> 
> I looked at last Friday's playlist....TANGENT: Are any of those composers worth checking out?
> 
> ...


Your monster list (worth checking out, but average) blaringly misses Nono, Berio, Ligeti, Xenakis, Myaskovsky, Scriabin, Roussel, Honegger, others.

As mentioned by others, KING-FM, WQXR. More challenging composers/works are oft played in the wee small hours, but atleast they're touched on occasionally. No substitutes for building your own collection. And I talk hard copy. Good old fashioned CD.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Vaneyes said:


> Your monster list (worth checking out, but average) blaringly misses Nono, Berio, Ligeti, Xenakis, Myaskovsky, Scriabin, Roussel, Honegger, others.
> 
> As mentioned by others, KING-FM, WQXR. More challenging composers/works are oft played in the wee small hours, but atleast they're touched on occasionally. No substitutes for building your own collection. And I talk hard copy. Good old fashioned CD.


I should have put the question before just that part of the list, but I was only asking about the ones from John Field and down. Those composers you listed were not among those played that day, but I would call most of them composers that have single-name recognition for classical music fans. My list is also missing older names like Sibelius because they are not played every single day, either.

I have heard works from Berio, Ligeti, Myaskovsky, Scriabin, Roussel, and Honegger in my investigations, usually from the Top XYZ lists on this site. Scriabin has some great work, and a few of the others have music that I thought was okay but insufficient to motivate me to seek out more of their music at this time.

Hard copies are fine, and I have a few classical CDs, but they have a few drawbacks. Among them are taking up space, the possibility that I may never listen to them that many times, and expense. Streaming has its own drawbacks, but it is becoming less and less essential to have a physical collection. It definitely is not required in terms of finding composers, performers, and works that appeal to me.

A note about length: KBAQ was able to play the entirety of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 when they unveiled the Most Wanted 100. I am not sure how they got around the call sign rules (hopefully not by putting it between movements), but it is possible. Being a public radio station, though, they also have sponsorship considerations and education/community building commentary from the DJs that would get short shrift if a huge amount of very long works were played regularly.


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## trazom (Apr 13, 2009)

The only classical radio station available where I live used to be pretty restrictive in what they played; but lately, I've happily noticed they've become less snobbish by embracing the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Jaws scores and all of Ennio Morricone's masterworks. Sometimes we're treated to a glimpse of the contemporary classical music scene with Yiruma's iconic piece "River Flows In You" but with all the dinosaurs complaining about new music, we're rarely that lucky.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

trazom said:


> The only classical radio station available where I live used to be pretty restrictive in what they played; but lately, I've happily noticed they've become less snobbish by embracing the Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Jaws scores and all of Ennio Morricone's masterworks.


I guess I'm one of those snobs. When I want movie music, I'll watch the film. To me, your classical radio station is getting worse.


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## Orfeo (Nov 14, 2013)

Oh boy how I miss WNCN (a now defunct radio station in NYC). The selections were great (that's how I got to love Bruckner, Bax, and the Russians). WQXR is nearly as good. The one in Washington DC (WETA) is decent, with nice doses of Glazunov thrown in. I would like it if the station broadcasts more Rachmaninoff than it has (no Myaskovsky as far as I notice). Bruckner is not much played here, if at all. 

I remember asking someone at WETA why very little Rachmaninoff and Myaskovsky and he replied that there's no audience for them. I think that's probably true, but................


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