Does The Organist Entertains on Radio 2 do more harm than good?

pawleybrian

/ #10 BBC doing disservice to talented musicians

2014-01-18 16:49

By excluding electronic organs, the BBC is hurting not only themselves but the many young and talented keyboard players who perform on a wide range of instruments. The BBC argument is fatuous in that they do not insist that Bach's music only be played on the instruments of his day, nor that new arrangements of classical pieces cannot be played because the recording studio has used electronic devices to perfect the natural sound of a large orchestra. This is a blatant display of musical snobbery that only hurts the future of all serious musical development. One only has to hear the ridiculous criticisms of the increasingly popular André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra to see that, in the eyes of music dinosaurs, any popularization of the classical music platform is anathema to their superior senses. Thus, it is with "The Organist Entertains". Once a popular and entertaining programme that has now become a 'specialist' broadcast for a minority audience. My opinion is that the broadcast is mis-named and on the wrong radio channel. BBC have flouted their own constitutional intent of bringing 'good' programming to a wide audience and it is time that they put this situation right in one way or another.