Searching for "WCRB Playlists"

Lately, since WCRB switched from 102.5 to 99.5, I've been getting a lot of hits from people searching for CRB playlists. (The website, which used to have that information, is under construction for some reason.)

I find that quite odd; CRB is the station that tells you the names of all the pieces at the end of the hourlong blocks of classical music, after all.

I'll concede the point

Research discussed in an article in Sunday's New York Times confirmed what the peddlers at WCRB were hoping nobody would realize: that classical music excites the brain.

Observing 13 subjects who listened to classical music while in an M.R.I. machine, the scientists found a cascade of brain-chemical activity. First the music triggered the forebrain, as it analyzed the structure and meaning of the tune. Then the nucleus accumbus and ventral tegmental area activated to release dopamine, a chemical that triggers the brain’s sense of reward.

The cerebellum, an area normally associated with physical movement, reacted too, responding to what Dr. Levitin suspected was the brain’s predictions of where the song was going to go. As the brain internalizes the tempo, rhythm and emotional peaks of a song, the cerebellum begins reacting every time the song produces tension (that is, subtle deviations from its normal melody or tempo).

That sure sounds like relaxation to me!

Of course, maybe I'm not giving them credit. On a recent trip to New York, I hit a bump hard in Queens. (More fairly, I think, the bump hit me.) This damaged the underbelly of my car.

Because of the brevity of my trip (only about 36 hours), and because it was the weekend, I didn't have an opportunity to have to have my car inspected by a mechanic and cleared for the trip back to Boston. I did my best to rig up the loose parts with duck tape, said a quick prayer, and started driving. I didn't get very far; I left the part in question on the shoulder of the JFK. (I wonder if it's still there; I wasn't really in a position to try to retrieve it.)

So here I was, with 200 miles ahead of me in a car that, for all I knew, could fail at any moment. That it ultimately turned out to be a dispensible part is irrelevant; at the time, I didn't know. For the drive, I'd brought a number of 20th century operas. With my nerves on edge as they were, Wozzeck was not helping.

In this situation, I needed something to silence the voice in my head that was warning of the impending $500 towing bill or being stranded somewhere in Connecticut, or something in between. Yet, I couldn't impair my ability to drive.

I made it home, and visited the mechanic the next day. He said everything would be fine, and I went back to listening to Wozzeck.

In that very peculiar circumstance, the lobotomy that commercial classical radio provides proved helpful. I'll concede the point.

Good news for the third best classical radio station in Boston

If all goes as planned, local classical music fans will be able to keep listening to their favorite radio programming on WCRB-FM.

That's the opening sentence of the story in this morning's Globe about a plan to switch WCRB's classical programming to 99.5 when 102.5 switches to a country format.

Here's how I would have written that sentence:

If all goes as planned, local classical music fans will be able to keep listening to the radio programming they settle for while WGBH and WHRB have different programming, assuming they don't have a fancy enough radio to get WGBH HD2.

Is WGBH following Copland's mandate?

WGBH is currently airing self-congratulatory spots, playing clips of an address Aaron Copland gave on its inaugural broadcast. To paraphrase, Copland says that 'GBH should particularly focus on music of our own time and place, to the point that contemporary American music is as well known as that of the classical masters. It's great talk, and I absolutely agree with the sentiment, but it made me consider: does WGBH actually do that?

The live BSO broadcasts certainly help, as they have first crack at many BSO commissions and other contemporary pieces selected by Levine. On Thanksgiving and July 4, they focus on American music. There's also the year-end "eulogy" program dedicated to musicians and composers who passed away that always includes a lot of contemporary music.

However, over the course of the week, it doesn't seem that they play all that much in the way of truly contemporary music. (Don't get me wrong; their programing is certainly far superior to WCRB's small, confined box.) For a very obvious example, last Wednesday was the birthday of Worcester's own John Adams. Adams seems to perfectly fit the mold that Copland described, as a composer of this time and place. However, WGBH chose not to play any of his music. (It's certainly not for lack of available recordings.) WHRB, on the other hand, has two pieces by Adams programmed for this past month, in addition to many other contemporary composers, equally famous and obscure.

In fairness, I should point out their wonderful site devoted to American music, Art of the States. And, again, I do think WGBH has good programming on the balance. However, instead of highlighting WGBH's good qualities, Aaron Copland reminds us that surely WGBH could do more.

WCRB

I was listening to WCRB in the car this evening. Something pretty strange happened. After the first movement of the fifth Brandenburg Concerto, they played a very unexpected piece -- the second movement of the concerto. Maybe the third movement followed, but by then I had arrived at my destination.

Yes, the demise of WCRB will be a little sad, as Boston should have a full-time classical music station, but the peope lamenting its impending format change as part of the death of classical music are missing part the point. In its current format, WCRB is hardly friendly to classical music. It's not just that the station only plays a very small selection of music, pretty much excluding anything written before 1700 or after 1900. It isn't even their terrible habit of playing just one movement from a piece.

WCRB's real problem is that it has a very negative attitude about the music it plays. Again and again and again, they talk about "relaxing" classical music. (Even to bizarre effect -- I remember one time several years ago when the relaxing piece the host was plugging turned out to be Beethoven's 5th.) In CRB's world, classical musc isn't something that is supposed to engage the mind; it is supposed to turn the mind off.

I think if WCRB respected its listeners a little more, maybe it would be doing a little better. Instead, it tries to cultivate brain-dead listeners by making classical music into a brain-dead product.

Addendum:

Today, WGBH pulled a CRB-style move, and played just the Adagietto from Mahler's 5th. (I didn't believe my ears until their website confirmed it.) But I'm much more willing to cut them some slack -- they have an interesting and eclectic playlist, and don't treat their audience like idiots.

-12/30/05, 22:11