Two Dave MacNeils?

[Don A.]

> Re: Garrett's observation of performance characteristics of rock shows, in
> that the groups or stars play longer versions of their recorded
material...
> in many cases, the RECORDINGS themselves are 3 to 4 minutes on an album,
> maybe a little less on the singles, and that's what the radio stations
play.

In many cases, the (pop) album RECORDING is 12 minutes....or longer....and
the single (airplay) version is 4.

Not quite "a little less".  (And some pop artists refer to the edits as
"hatchet jobs".)

> But a recording of a 40-minute symphony or concerto is the same length as
the
> piece when it's played live.

Are there no recordings simply of "movements".

Are you saying the radio stations are editing the recordings themselves?

Or are they just deciding to play the shorter recordings?

> I think it's a valid position that
> classical stations, commercial or non-commercial SHOULD resemble the
> concertgoer's experience because the radio audience is a subset of that
> cohort, viz: people who enjoy the works of the classical genre as they
> can actually be encountered in the concert hall.

But in order to expand the reach of the station, management has decided to
reach out to a group of people who would probably never go to a concert
hall.  (They are more likely to be part of the 250,000 that floods the Hatch
Shell on the Fourth.)
(i.e. Do we have 100 people who listen for 12 hours a day?  ...or do we have
10,000 people that listen for 4 hours a day.)

A competent program director can adjust his radio station between those two
extremes.

However, advertising and ratings drive that decision, not taste, or a higher
calling, not a purist mindset.
Many a purist has been clobberred in the competition for listeners ears and
advertising dollars.
And because it's a business, thats just the way it is.
(Remember the PD's mantra..."Get as MANY people to listen for as LONG as you
can!"  Many times it's a balance between both those goals.)

WCRB decided to alienate a few die-hards....and gain many more "ordinary"
listeners in their place.
(Just as they did when they extended their audience by removing opera from
the air.)

> I can say with some assurance
> as they days grow longer...in July and August many of them will show
> up at summer festivals like Tanglewood expecting to hear all the
compositions
> in full.

I liken it to the people who listen to WBZ.  There are, no doubt, many that
would like longer form news broadcasts...and more in depth reporting and
analysis than the simple headlines over and over.  For that, they go
somewhere else, newspapers, TV, etc.  The station needs to find a balance
between the two to support it's business model and attract advertising.

People use radio today is more like a wristwatch.  When you want it....it's
there in short bites to give you what you need/expect.