The Interval

[french frank]

Income from the licence fee,and no doubt other sources, is rising.

And they're finding extra money for other services - I presume R3 is just one of the losers as, comparatively, its budget is being decreased.. More BBC agenda? (Good post, fhg)

[french frank]

[No, I haven't yet penned my letter to the Trust - but I will in a minute ...]

Why don't they put The Essay in the interval slot and play the CDs later on? If I were Roger Wright, I'd persuade contributors to write an extra 2 mins 30 secs in exchange for giving up 10% of my salary (a big chunk of which goes in tax anyway) for the extra 2 mins 30 secs.

[Sir Velo]

BBC to Wallace
Thank you for your interest in BBC Radio 3 and in our concert presentation, Clearly this is a matter of taste, but also in times with decreased funding it is clear that creating a music interval will be less expensive than commissioning a short speech programme, Clearly, the most important commitment will be keeping our live concerts every evening, so if occasionally we are forced to find some economical solutions, then this is to be able to invest in creative content elsewhere and use our creative resources in the most appropriate fashion. Of course, The Essay does provide the most consistent speech strand that Radio 3 broadcasts with the chance to pursue a subject in some depth.

---

What an utterly pathetic, fatuouly facile response from the BBC. To fail to make mention of the fact that the interval used to be a speech based feature, or that The Essay comes on two hours after the conclusion of the concert indicates the contempt with which Radio 3 treats its listeners these days. If it's any consolation (and I'm sure it ain't) I have had similarly dismissive responses to my own correspondence with these idiots.

[french frank]

What an utterly pathetic, fatuouly facile response from the BBC. To fail to make mention of the fact that the interval used to be a speech based feature, or that The Essay comes on two hours after the conclusion of the concert indicates the contempt with which Radio 3 treats its listeners these days. If it's any consolation (and I'm sure it ain't) I have had similarly dismissive responses to my own correspondence with these idiots.

The relevance of that being that the speech interval talk used to be calculated as part of the station's overall speech output. When they butchered the 'concert' schedule by replacing it with the edited recording, they lost the interval and The Essay was a sort of 'compensation'. It was 'the interval talk' part of the speech output but later in the evening.

[mercia]

doesn't the argument that you wouldn't hear music in the interval if you were attending the concert itself, fall down in that nor would you expect someone to come on stage and recite poetry or give a talk on taxidermy [as we had in the interval of a broadcast last week]

if we want to completely reproduce the concert-going experience at home perhaps they should set up microphones in the bar or toilets and we could listen to low-level chatter for 20 minutes

I'm happy with interval music [it's to my taste], it seems to be well chosen and relevant, usually more examples from that particular evening's performer and/or composer

[french frank]

I'm happy with interval music [it's to my taste], it seems to be well chosen and relevant, usually more examples from that particular evening's performer and/or composer

So, that's all right then, to quote a catchphrase from a certain erudite publication.

The point about it not being reducible to 'taste' is that there is an issue of principle behind it. One doesn't go to hear poetry or a short story because they aren't on offer. But people might if they were. And I have heard short talks at a concert before a particular piece is played (especially before new pieces). I don't think an alternative concert for the concert-goers in the interval would be a likely event.

But in any case, this isn't a concert - it's radio. And the fact that even Radio 3 admits that it's a cheaper option - suggesting otherwise that they would 'commission short speech programmes' - makes it a very happy forced solution if it pleases you.

[Hornspieler]

So, that's all right then, to quote a catchphrase from a certain erudite publication.

The point about it not being reducible to 'taste' is that there is an issue of principle behind it. One doesn't go to hear poetry or a short story because they aren't on offer. But people might if they were. And I have heard short talks at a concert before a particular piece is played (especially before new pieces). I don't think an alternative concert for the concert-goers in the interval would be a likely event.

But in any case, this isn't a concert - it's radio. And the fact that even Radio 3 admits that it's a cheaper option - suggesting otherwise that they would 'commission short speech programmes' - makes it a very happy forced solution if it pleases you.

Up to the late seventies, The Morning Story was a very popular feature lasting from 1045 to 1100 on Radio 4. Then the BBC suddenly dropped it, without any explanation.
The requirement was for a story of 2,150 words, which would last for 14 minutes when read aloud - leaving one minute space for inter programme announcements. There was quite a backlog of recordings not yet aired when the axe was wielded.

Ideal length and varied themes for a twenty minute interval with space for announcements about future broadcasts and events.

Yes. I don't like music during a concert interval. I don't like being told what I am about to hear disected and explained before the event.

AND I certainly do not like an uninformed interviewer firing questions from a tick list at a victim whose only wish is to get a change of clothes, a rub down and a cup of tea!

HS

[Flosshilde]

doesn't the argument that you wouldn't hear music in the interval if you were attending the concert itself, fall down in that nor would you expect someone to come on stage and recite poetry or give a talk on taxidermy [as we had in the interval of a broadcast last week]

if we want to completely reproduce the concert-going experience at home perhaps they should set up microphones in the bar or toilets and we could listen to low-level chatter for 20 minutes

When I go to a concert I usually use the interval to go to the toilet; have a drink; read the programme notes about what I've just heard or what I'm going to hear; talk to companions about the music & performance. Which is more or less what I do at home, with 'Discovering Music' substituting for the last two. If I'm at the opera I'll read the programme essays about the background & history of the work and the production.

To reproduce the 'interval experience' most effectively would need a brief (5 minute) silence to allwo for loo & refreshment break, and a short talk on the music, or the background to the composition. More music is a distraction, especially in a well-constructed programme, & makes the evening concert fairly indistinguishable from the afternoon programme, the only difference being that one is listening to a live performance broadcast as it happens, rather than recorded.

(additional thought: the BBCSSO sometimes have a 'coda', a post-concert brief recital by, usually, the evening's soloist. Sometimes it's connected to the programme - eg recently a pianist played some solo piano works by Britten after a concert that had included Britten, but not played by him. This could be analogous to the interval music in a broadcast, but it's more like the coffee & petit-four after a well-constructed meal, but it happens after the final applause & curtain calls & a break to allow those in the audience who don't want to stay to leave)