“The dulcet tones of the new music collection ‘In the Key of C-SPAN: Great Works as Heard on C-SPAN Television, Volume One’ isn’t just music to nerd out to—it’s the soundtrack to neutrality,” writes Emily Heil in Tuesday’s (3/4) Washington Post. “The cable network … is breaking into the music biz with a compilation, available Tuesday on iTunes, of the kinds of soothing classical jams it often plays during long House votes or Senate quorums.… ‘Schubert has a symphony called “the Unfinished Symphony,” which we would never play,’ says Rob Kennedy, the C-SPAN co-president who oversees the music project. ‘People might wonder, were we making a comment that Congress has unfinished business?’ And so there are no funeral dirges or military marches…. Kennedy says the collection was inspired by the many listeners who call in to the network’s switchboard, wondering what they’re hearing. C-SPAN’s musical stylings have ‘a small but passionate’ following, he says. They even have their own Twitter account—@cspanmusic. Classical music critic Anne Midgette says … ‘These are all legitimate recordings of works that aren’t that well-known, played by real musicians (not computer samples!).’ ”
Posted March 4, 2014
