All Bach, All The Time

December 24, 2005 8:29 AM

BBC Radio 3 has spent the two weeks before Christmas playing Bach 24 hours a day. By the end of the day tomorrow, they'll have played his entire surviving body of work. Unfortunately, I just discovered this fact last night. Fortunately, Radio 3 makes their broadcasts available online for a full week, which means that Bach-heads who start listening now can get 192 hours of free streamed Bach via the BBC3 online radioplayer.
posted by yankeefog (19 comments total)

For those unfamiliar with BBC Radio 3 (not "BBC Three", that's a TV station), it's one of the best and most varied stations in the world. Yes, there's a focus on classical of all kinds, but they also cover jazz and "world music", whatever that happens to be, and basically anything the presenters like. Its counterpart for more popular (but still smart/high quality) music is BBC 6 Music, also available for a full week after broadcast. Bizarrely enough, 6 Music is available as both Windows Media and RealAudio, but Radio 3 is only RealAudio. The Beeb's excuse for this a few years ago was something about bandwidth issues, but that seems a pretty weak excuse now.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 8:34 AM on December 24, 2005

And they didn't just cover the well-known Members of the family - the much-ignored P.D.Q. Bach also got some airtime.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 8:39 AM on December 24, 2005

(in case you foreigners haven't woken up to it, the BBC's internet output is a commercial-free Christmas present every day of the year from the British public to you. We rarely even get a fucking card in return.)
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 8:41 AM on December 24, 2005

We'll thank you later, PEA.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:51 AM on December 24, 2005

Ah, Bach.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:54 AM on December 24, 2005

I'll be right Bach,
You be left Beethoven.
posted by nomisxid at 9:21 AM on December 24, 2005

Protocols of the Elders of Awesome writes "(in case you foreigners haven't woken up to it, the BBC's internet output is a commercial-free Christmas present every day of the year from the British public to you. We rarely even get a fucking card in return.)"


And where's me, "Thanks for that Lend-Lease boondoogle card", eh?
posted by orthogonality at 9:47 AM on December 24, 2005

But we don't ask for our cultural and entertainment programming to be paid back with interest...
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 9:53 AM on December 24, 2005

Hey, we gave you guys Jerry Springer and Baywatch. What else do you want?
posted by Justinian at 10:24 AM on December 24, 2005

We rarely even get a fucking card in return.

We sent on, but Mary Whitehouse impounded it at the border.
posted by eriko at 10:25 AM on December 24, 2005

(in case you foreigners haven't woken up to it, the BBC's internet output is a commercial-free Christmas present every day of the year from the British public to you. We rarely even get a fucking card in return.)

Some of it is and some of it isn't. Annoyingly for me access to the tv shows is UK only so even though I pay the TV tax I can't watch them will in Canada over the holidays.
posted by srboisvert at 10:56 AM on December 24, 2005

will = while.
posted by srboisvert at 10:58 AM on December 24, 2005

I've been wondering for years where I should send my pledge. Can't find an address on the website, possibly because I keep getting distracted.
posted by QIbHom at 11:21 AM on December 24, 2005

Gah, I hate RealPlayer. I just spent 10 minutes doing their setup and trying to avoid giving them my real email address.
posted by matildaben at 11:52 AM on December 24, 2005

srboisvert - perhaps there is some proxy-based method of getting round that? And there's always bittorrent.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 11:55 AM on December 24, 2005

matildaben - you don't have to give an email address. Just press cancel.
posted by Protocols of the Elders of Awesome at 11:55 AM on December 24, 2005

there is also Real Alternative. Plays RA files without being RealPlayer. Google Real Alternative and you'll find plenty of places to dwnld it
posted by edgeways at 12:35 PM on December 24, 2005

who start listening now can get 192 hours of free streamed Bach

Frankly, I'd much rather have 192 hours of free steamed broccoli! Mmmmmm!
posted by bigdaddy at 2:02 PM on December 24, 2005

WKCR, Columbia University's radio station does something similar every year.
posted by thrakintosh at 4:29 PM on December 25, 2005