Note: a version of this piece originally appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle as part of the "Tuning In" series.
Every weekend (Saturdays starting at 9 a.m. with an encore Sundays at 1 p.m.) Classical IPR broadcasts Music by Request. Listeners call or email in to request specific pieces of classical music, and the entire program is made up of listener requests.
In the last few years, we’ve included more information about the requester and the reason they’re requesting. Some people ask for pieces for a wedding anniversary or the birth of a new baby, and others ask for pieces that they heard recently on the air and want to hear again.
As we’ve included more voices in the show, we sometimes get requests that are explicitly political or have a particular point of view about polarizing current events.
I’ll give a few recent examples. We’ve had requests for national anthems of various countries accompanied by commentary about current affairs in those countries and for music composed or performed by people who have made explicit statements about current events. We’ve also had requests for classical pieces dedicated to people whose deaths have had polarizing effects.
We want to respect people’s music selections within reason (and within our classical format), but we also don’t want the show to add to what is an already polarized landscape.
It’s not the points of view themselves that are problematic - it’s the fact that not everyone shares those points of view.
What concerns me is creating a service that is welcoming and inviting for many people.
We frequently hear from people that Classical IPR provides a refuge from current events. People tell us they are overexposed to the news and to tension about the news and use Classical IPR as a way to escape.
People feel very strongly about music played on the show and also about the points of view that they think the music is expressing (or not expressing).
Years ago, when I hosted Music by Request, it was the weekend of the University of Michigan and Michigan State game. Predictably I received requests for songs from each university. For one of them, and I can’t remember which, I found a marvelous digitized wax cylinder recording from the 1920s and played that on the air.
I immediately got a call from a listener chastising me for playing such a terrible recording. The caller said I showed such a clear bias for one university over the other by playing a good recording instead of a bad one and that I should be ashamed of myself.
If a century-old recording that ostensibly denigrates a university can elicit such venom, imagine the reactions to music that represents beliefs that are diametrically opposed to one’s own.
Music is inherently political, as I’ve written here before. Music is powerful, and music has a lot of meaning.
At present, we generally don’t include statements from listeners with their requests if those statements express a specific point of view about a polarizing current event.
We play the music but not the statement because we want people to listen and draw their own conclusions about the music and what it means to them.
What do you think? Should Classical IPR include statements from listeners with their requests if those statements express a specific point of view about a polarizing current event? Send your thoughts to amanda.sewell@interlochen.org
