Last week, the BBC announced its new classical music programming segment, ‘Our Classical Century’, the ‘most ambitious classical music programming to date’ according to Tony Hall. Telling the story of classical music in Britain since the end of the Great War are ‘much-loved personalities’ Sir Lenny Henry, John Simpson, Joan Bakewell, and Alexandra Burke. Alexandra who? She won the X Factor back in 2008 and took part in Strictly Come Dancing, so is the obvious choice to front a programme on classical music from the 1980s to the present day. And, of course, no series on music would be complete without contributions from physicist Brian Cox and historian Lucy Worsley. Poor Gareth Malone on the other hand, who actually knows a thing or two about music, has been demoted to host his ‘All Star Music Quiz’.
Were there no actual musicians available?
I’m willing to put money on the narrative arc already. The words ‘join me on this journey’ are uttered within the first 60 seconds. Alexandra Burke meets a young student, and is overwhelmed at their talent and work ethic, discovering that classical music is moving and engaging. She issues a rally cry that everyone should be able to learn music. The Government quadruples arts funding in schools. Okay, maybe not that last part.
The insistence of the BBC to use celebrities (although that’s a generous term) in an attempt to attract new audiences to classical music is cringe-worthy, and says a lot about how they value the music itself, having to put in a semi-recognisable name in order to get it past ratings-obsessed TV executives that are terrified of asking more of their audiences.
But even that seems to have missed the mark: a quick straw poll of the under-30s in my office returned zero recognition for either John Simpson or Joan Bakewell, with one registering Alexandra Burke. Lenny Henry is of course iconic in many ways, but if I want to discover what his musical tastes are I’ll tune into Desert Island Discs.
Alan Davey, controller of Radio 3, says in the press release that we are living in ‘an increasingly genre-less age, where young, curious minds are open to discovering this, and that’s exciting to see.’ But where exactly are we seeing this represented in media?
There is an incredibly lively new music scene, which ‘Our Classical Century’ will largely ignore. Composers like Daniel Kidane, Hannah Kendall, Anna Meredith, and Philip Venebles. Collectives like Bastard Assignments, Riot Ensemble, and The Hermes Experiment. Presenters like Kate Molleson and Elizabeth Alker. All experts with bags of charm, charisma, and the ability to engage a new generation of listeners. Yes, they can be heard occasionally on BBC Radio 3, but they’re preaching to the choir. If the BBC wishes to grow audiences for classical music, these are the people who should be spearheading programming like this on primetime television.
There was some good news in the announcement: material from the BBC archives will be available for public consumption, and I look forward to making my way through iconic Proms performances and documentaries from leading cultural voices from years gone by. Although, given we, the licence fee payer, have funded all of this (as Tony Hall pointed out in his speech at the launch), it’s ridiculous that we don’t already have access to it on demand.
As if to comically reinforce my point, just before I wrote this concluding paragraph, a Guardian headline caught my attention: ‘Danny Dyer to “inject fun” into History for BBC1’. The BBC is in an entirely unique position to take a lead on presenting ambitious, aspirational programming on classical music and the arts. In particular, it must place more focus on the music being created now if we’re to believe that classical music has a future. The BBC is fading into insignificance as a cultural player with programming like this, and it’s devastating to see an organisation that has been so crucial for the arts do so. If it fades any further, you’ll find me binge-watching ‘Danny Dyer’s Deadliest Men’ on Netflix, at least there I’ll find an expert in his field.
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Iain Martin and the team make sense of the news, providing commentary and analysis on the stories that matter in politics, geopolitics, economics and culture.