The Eternal Breakfast Debate in a New Place

[cloughie]

But it is of interest to those in the North - and this is a national radio station!

OG

...and to Yorkshiremen in Cornwall!

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

...and to Yorkshiremen in Cornwall!

... and anyone interested in structural engineering anywhere in the world. Another of DaisyDog's DozeyDigs.

[oddoneout]

And I’m not sure that the history of the Humber bridge is of great interest to folks from the southern regions.

Not all of us are afraid of evidence of another world beyond our own parochial horizons. I for one welcome the opportunity to hear about subjects/places I would not otherwise have occasion to encounter.
Tom Service's input on the morning in question was limited to some rather disjointed waffling about his forbear and the recitation of the poem, the equivalent in disturbance terms(if one is not a TS fan) of the playing of a short bit of noisy music - hardly the same as presenting the whole programme.

[seabright]

Does anyone else find the Breakfast music levels awfully low sometimes? I set the volume level so that Petroc's voice is at a good listening level but when the music itself comes in, sometimes the quiet parts are barely audible. Maybe the engineers think it's better that way, rather than being too loud first thing in the morning? The Jerome Moross piece just now was a case in point!

[oddoneout]

Does anyone else find the Breakfast music levels awfully low sometimes? I set the volume level so that Petroc's voice is at a good listening level but when the music itself comes in, sometimes the quiet parts are barely audible. Maybe the engineers think it's better that way, rather than being too loud first thing in the morning? The Jerome Moross piece just now was a case in point!

Yes. The imbalance between presenter and music is tiresome, not least because it varies - and not just according to which presenter is involved. As the spoken elements tend to travel to a greater extent anyway I find myself doing a lot of 'adjustment' to avoid annoying the neighbours with a sudden booming 'and that was...'
Perhaps, as a RT reader suggested some time ago re the problems of so-called background music obliterating the programme subject matter on TV, the folks involved need to listen to the output on the kind of set-up that the public is likely to be using, rather than their studio one. I forget the ins and outs but there was an explanation of how what sounds OK to the producers gets out of balance at the receiving end and thus annoys the public.

[Bax-of-Delights]

I see, as part of the BBC's "gay" season we are to have a "gay" composer feature each day. I am pretty certain that I care not two hoots if Szymanowski was a gay man nor that I needed to know this before listening to his Concert Overture nor that it changes my opinion of his music.

Just why?

[Stanfordian]

I see, as part of the BBC's "gay" season we are to have a "gay" composer feature each day. I am pretty certain that I care not two hoots if Szymanowski was a gay man nor that I needed to know this before listening to his Concert Overture nor that it changes my opinion of his music.

Just why?

These recurring themes are so tiresome. I agree a composer's sexual preference means nothing to me I just want to hear the music. Soon it will be something else to trumpet. ‘Thought the Night’ is the sort of programming I now enjoy.

[alycidon]

I see, as part of the BBC's "gay" season we are to have a "gay" composer feature each day. I am pretty certain that I care not two hoots if Szymanowski was a gay man nor that I needed to know this before listening to his Concert Overture nor that it changes my opinion of his music.

Just why?

Because the BBC is pushing the gay agenda like mad, and it's getting extremely tedious.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Because the BBC is pushing the gay agenda like mad, and it's getting extremely tedious.

Or - it is commemorating the half-century of the partial decriminalization of homosexuality in a series of programmes on television and radio that many people (myself included) have found interesting and moving. Granted, the Breakfast "theme" is simplistic and naff - but what else have we been led to expect from this programme?

[jean]

What is 'the gay agenda', please?

[ahinton]

I see, as part of the BBC's "gay" season we are to have a "gay" composer feature each day. I am pretty certain that I care not two hoots if Szymanowski was a gay man nor that I needed to know this before listening to his Concert Overture nor that it changes my opinion of his music.

Just why?

But, since you mention the Concert Overture, Richard Strauss wasn't gay!...

[ahinton]

Or - it is commemorating the half-century of the partial decriminalization of homosexuality in a series of programmes on television and radio that many people (myself included) have found interesting and moving. Granted, the Breakfast "theme" is simplistic and naff - but what else have we been led to expect from this programme?

Of course that's what it is and, as you rightly observe, its manifestation in Breakfast is naff and lets it and itself down.

[Bax-of-Delights]

But, since you mention the Concert Overture, Richard Strauss wasn't gay!...

Szymanowski - or perhaps you are implying that Szymanowski was aping R.Strauss? It certainly sounds Straussian!

[ahinton]

Szymanowski - or perhaps you are implying that Szymanowski was aping R.Strauss? It certainly sounds Straussian!

You got it! It's more like Richard Strauss than Richard Strauss could be! I've played it to at least a couple of dozen people over the years and they've all identified it as Strauss, although a few have added "but what is it?"...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

These recurring themes are so tiresome. I agree a composer's sexual preference means nothing to me I just want to hear the music. Soon it will be something else to trumpet. ‘Thought the Night’ is the sort of programming I now enjoy.

I agree. I don't like Tchaikovsky's, Britten's, or Tippett's music any more, or less, on account of their personal preferences.