I was in the toilet just around the corner from the Classic FM studios. I had run out during a piece to have a wee after being on air for hours and I was just stood there, listening to the classical song playing over the tannoy thinking “what a perfect piece of music”.
My first few months on Classic FM have been a bit of an eye-opener. Quite a few people were worried about me going back to breakfast broadcasting but there is a huge difference between getting up at 3am – as I used to for BBC Breakfast – and at 5.30ish for my daily stint on the radio. The one enormous change I have noticed is that I am in a much better frame of mind after listening to three-and-a-half hours of some of the most beautiful music in the morning.
I have always loved a bit of classical. My dad would play us a lot of it growing up and I have always found myself coming back to it. I have what I consider to be very broad tastes when it comes to music but there is a real strength, depth and power to classical. I know there is a feeling that some people listen in order to switch off but for me, it’s not about escapism, it’s about enrichment and I’ve been really encouraged by the number of people who feel the same way.
Since the start of the year, there have been hundreds of lovely messages from people who are listening to Classic FM for the first time and talk about the way they feel after tuning in. It’s not just about the music… it’s the mood. It’s not a case of switching the world off but equipping yourself to face it.
We had a message a few weeks ago from a farmer who was enjoying Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana whilst feeding his three newborn lambs their milk. A mum texted in to say that, after a particularly difficult and moody morning with the kids, the 2nd movement of Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata was sorting her right out and getting her back in the right frame of mind to have the confidence to face the rest of the day.
Just this week, Tracy contacted the show to say she was sat outside the gym sobbing gently in her car for an extra few minutes listening to the gorgeous strains of Barber’s Adagio for Strings, and the other morning we got an email from Wendy in Cornwall thanking us for getting us through her cancer operation. She sent the message on the morning she was told she had the all clear and thanked us for keeping her company and keeping her going through the dark times. It’s hard to read that out on air without tearing up, but it’s also a wonderful reminder of the power of music and how it touches us all in such a beautiful and meaningful way.
It definitely makes a difference when I leave Classic FM and move across town to my other job in the world of news at Channel 5. The studio team there are also getting into their classical music and each day. Just before we go live, our director, Bee, asks me to play one piece of classical music from the breakfast programme that day. It is a lovely moment where we all just stop and have a couple of minutes listening to something amazing and I’m sure it makes for a better programme. Having said all that, I think we freaked out one of the head honchos at ITN when they walked past the studio and heard Widor’s Toccata blasting out about 20 minutes before we were due to go live!
I love how passionate we are about our favourite pieces. We receive hundreds of thousands of votes each year in the Classic FM Hall of Fame and that’s also why we are launching something called “One Piece, Why?” in the next few weeks. What is the one piece of classical music you would pass on to someone else and why? I love the stories behind the choices. Sometimes it’s tied to history, an event, a friend, a loved one, a tragedy or a triumph. At the moment, mine would be Michael Kamen’s score to Band of Brothers. It’s one of my favourite TV shows and I think the music provides the perfect accompaniment and every time I hear it, I have a smile on my face.
So, I guess what I am saying is, I am really enjoying my new job at Classic FM. I love seeing the impact that music has on others but I am also seeing that on myself and, without wanting to sound weird, if you walk into a public toilet somewhere and see my staring up at the ceiling… you know why.
Golfing… is the way I relax. I love thinking about hitting balls almost as much as I love hitting balls but I don’t get out there anywhere near as much as I’d like to. This week I got to play a few holes. It was freezing cold and the wind was up but it was one of the gorgeous mornings at Delemere Golf Club in Cheshire where, even though you can’t feel your fingers, it’s wonderful to be outside chasing a little white ball around.
Recovering… when you’re 6ft 6 in it’s almost impossible to not have a bad back. A lot of life is spent stooping or fitting into places that are just a little too small for you. It doesn’t help when you try and lift a sofa on your own without thinking about whether your back is in the right place. Thankfully I found an osteopath who could give it a good crack and I also found out that ibuprofen gel costs an absolute fortune!
Writing… I am also working on another book. I haven’t worked out the title yet but I’m slowly gathering some amazing individuals to talk to. It’ll be along the same lines as Remarkable People and Standing On The Shoulders and be about people who, despite going through some really tough times, lift us up and help us to see a little bit further than we can on our own. No idea when I’m going to write it, but I’m sure I’ll find time somewhere.
Counting… the Easter weekend was a bit of whopper on Classic FM where we count down the Classic FM Hall of Fame. It is an epic task collating the hundreds of thousands of votes and then playing the top 300 tracks over four days! I was given the honour of announcing the top 15 and announcing the number one track for 2024. Mozart made the top 300 13 times a more than anyone else, Beethoven had two in the top 10, Karl Jenkins was the highest loving composer with The Armed Man at four but the most popular piece of music, for the second year running, was Sergei Rachmaninov’s piano concerto number 2.
I've been moved to tears by how classical music changes lives
32
1
05.04.2024
I was in the toilet just around the corner from the Classic FM studios. I had run out during a piece to have a wee after being on air for hours and I was just stood there, listening to the classical song playing over the tannoy thinking “what a perfect piece of music”.
My first few months on Classic FM have been a bit of an eye-opener. Quite a few people were worried about me going back to breakfast broadcasting but there is a huge difference between getting up at 3am – as I used to for BBC Breakfast – and at 5.30ish for my daily stint on the radio. The one enormous change I have noticed is that I am in a much better frame of mind after listening to three-and-a-half hours of some of the most beautiful music in the morning.
I have always loved a bit of classical. My dad would play us a lot of it growing up and I have always found myself coming back to it. I have what I consider to be very broad tastes when it comes to music but there is a real strength, depth and power to classical. I know there is a feeling that some people listen in order to switch off but for me, it’s not about escapism, it’s about enrichment and I’ve been really encouraged by the number of people who feel the same way.
Since the start of the year, there have been hundreds of lovely messages from people who are listening to Classic FM for the first time and talk about the way they feel after tuning in. It’s not just about the music… it’s the mood. It’s not a case of switching the world off but equipping yourself........
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