The Eternal Breakfast Debate in a New Place

[LMcD]

I wouldn't quite take 'Urlicht' as an example of a bleeding chunk. To me, doing single songs from a cycle is not like extracting a single movement from a symphony or sonata.

I take your point, and am quite happy to replace 'bleeding chunk' with 'extract' or even 'movement' if we're talking about symphonies. The point I was trying to make is that there's much more to Mahler's symphonic output that 'that piece from Death in Venice'. Why not choose the beautiful Andante Moderato from the 6th symphony - with free cowbells!
(For some reason my spellchecker likes 'Andante' but is questioning 'Moderato')

[Sir Velo]

Possibly counterintuitively, I find this phrase - which I believe to be an invention of Jonathan Swain on TTN - warmly comforting. I think (and have posted before) that radio is a one-to-one communication. It jars for me when presenters say 'some of you...' which comes from their perspective of broadcasting to many: as a listener, I am the only one s/he is addressing! Especially in the middle of the night.

I find this a solipsistic way of looking at the world. Even in the middle of night on Radio 3 I doubt whether you are the only listener!

[kernelbogey]

I find this a solipsistic way of looking at the world. Even in the middle of night on Radio 3 I doubt whether you are the only listener!

I agree - a solipsistic moment.

And - that is my experience of listening to the radio in certain circumstances. Of course if I think for a couple of microseconds I can imagine that others may be listening.

[french frank]

I find this a solipsistic way of looking at the world. Even in the middle of night on Radio 3 I doubt whether you are the only listener!

It also goes against the received wisdom that listening to radio 'live' is valued as a shared experience!

[Serial_Apologist]

And I suppose I was thinking of R3 exclusively, since I haven't listened to any other station for getting on for 30 years. But, honestly, no station is really a 24-hour station if you're thinking about 'live' listening. I just rebel against any idea that 'the broadcasters' have worked out what 'people' want, and they're jolly well going to get it at peak listening times (and it's a 'big deal' if that happens to be when, like many others, you want to listen), and no matter what radio station they're listening to. It seems to me stale, lazy and clichéd programming. Texts, tweets, requests - never did new ideas pall so quickly. But this was mainly about presenters: if you want to hear your friendly 'likeable' presenters, you have to put up with the tooth grindingly annoying ones. I don't think that's what R3 should descend to but I'm quite happy to be in a minority in holding this view.


I'm sure they think they do, otherwise they wouldn't do it.

Were those tweeting or phoning in an informed listenership, as a consequence of the programme's presenters having informed them, as an ongoing part of the kind of educationally enlightening brief that was once upheld by Radio 3, then the interactivity might be welcome! Imagine a phone-in that played a piece by, say, Webern or Skalkottas - a complete piece, note - as a pretext for an interactive discussion on whether or not serialism or 12-tone row-based music had had its day, or whether diatonic tonality had retrieved the form-shaping importance it had had in the great symphonic scheme of 19th century things, or was merely another "colour" to add to 20th century compositional gains. Imagine: we could find the likes of Ahinton and Richard Barrett joining into a really stimulating discussion!

[french frank]

Were those tweeting or phoning in an informed listenership, as a consequence of the programme's presenters having informed them, as an ongoing part of the kind of educationally enlightening brief that was once upheld by Radio 3, then the interactivity might be welcome! Imagine a phone-in that played a piece by, say, Webern or Skalkottas - a complete piece, note - as a pretext for an interactive discussion on whether or not serialism or 12-tone row-based music had had its day, or whether diatonic tonality had retrieved the form-shaping importance it had had in the great symphonic scheme of 19th century things, or was merely another "colour" to add to 20th century compositional gains.

The interactivity that we have is part of the pursuit of populism - 'I have a chance to have my say, regardless of my knowledge [or more often, lack of it]. I know how I feel and [thanks Mitchell and Webb] what I reckon.' Intellectuality is dead.

[BBMmk2]

Aplogies for the interactivity here on Radio 3 Essentials, but my suggestion for the 2follow on" piece was played to day. They played the string orchestral version of John Ireland's A Downland Suite. I have suggested the brass band version of this work at some future date.

[antongould]

Aplogies for the interactivity here on Radio 3 Essentials, but my suggestion for the 2follow on" piece was played to day. They played the string orchestral version of John Ireland's A Downland Suite. I have suggested the brass band version of this work at some future date.

Oh well done bbm, scarily interactive ..... hope you told them what the weather was like.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I find this a solipsistic way of looking at the world.

I've just had to look up "solipsistic".

[Serial_Apologist]

I've just had to look up "solipsistic".

You're not alone...

[kernelbogey]

Originally Posted by Sir Velo:
I find this a solipsistic way of looking at the world. Even in the middle of night on Radio 3 I doubt whether you are the only listener!

It also goes against the received wisdom that listening to radio 'live' is valued as a shared experience!

I'm not sure what this means, FF.

If I listen to Today, then I suppose I have a sense of sharing the experience with the presenters; ditto if I listen to Breakfast and Petroc (or whoever) reads out a text from Listener X; and so on....

I can only assert, contra Sir Velo, and possibly contra Mundum (if your assertion is to be believed) that if I am alone in a room listening to a single voice on the radio - be that Jonathan on TTN, or Book of the Week on R4 - then my experience is that of one-to-communication between the broadcaster and me. It's not my way of 'looking at the world'; it's just that very particular experience of Radio.

[BBMmk2]

Frenchie, I think that's a good philosophy to have these days!

[oddoneout]

Aplogies for the interactivity here on Radio 3 Essentials, but my suggestion for the 2follow on" piece was played to day. They played the string orchestral version of John Ireland's A Downland Suite. I have suggested the brass band version of this work at some future date.

The first movement sounded familiar for some reason, has it been used elsewhere, or perhaps quote a folk tune? As the title didn't ring any bells it's unlikely to be because I've heard it played before several times on the morning programmes(whether Breakfast or, as today, Essential Classics.......)

[french frank]

the received wisdom that listening to radio 'live' is valued as a shared experience

I'm not sure what this means, FF.

If I listen to Today, then I suppose I have a sense of sharing the experience with the presenters;

It means that while you are listening, thousands of other listeners are sharing the same experience with you, whether it's at a concert or choral evensong.

[kernelbogey]

It means that while you are listening, thousands of other listeners are sharing the same experience with you, whether it's at a concert or choral evensong.

Perhaps, then, Sir Velo is right after all.