Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 280,093 playable programmes from the BBC

Writing a diary is a perilous business ; however careful or however conscious the diarist may be, posterity usually estimates him at a value very different from that which he puts on himself. The ingenuous diarist, of course, of whom Pepys is the prime example, reveals with complete candour both what he thinks he is and what he really is; but the conscious apologist is often nearly as naive. Mr. Guy Pocock , who is well known as a litterateur, will discuss some famous diarists in his talk this afternoon.

(Second Series)
Played by Howard Jones
Intermezzo in A Minor, Op. 118, No. 1
Intermezzo in E Flat, Op. 117, No. 1
Capriccio in C Sharp Minor. Op. 76, No. 5

The titles Capriccio and Intermezzo, with Rhapsody (thrice), Ballad, and Romance (once each), are the only names Brahms gave to the thirty pieces that constitute the bulk of his middle- and later-period piano music - a collection of works, mostly in simple forms, that abound in interest and vitality, and in emotional breadth and purity. Capriccio and Intermezzo broadly indicate the two types of piece-the one brisk and vigorous, the other quieter, sometimes almost grave. In this, as in most of Brahms's music, the emotion is not superficial. There are charms upon the surface, but some of the best must be sought a little beneath it.

Brahms was fond of internal melodies and cross-rhythms (for example, two notes to a beat in one hand against three to the boat in the other), and to the lyrical beauty of his music is added a bracing ruggedness of outline.
The first Intermezzo of Op. 117 is a special favourite. It is headed by a quotation from one of Herder's Folk Songs - a German form of the Scots cradle song known as Lady Anne Bothwell's Lament (to be found in Percy's 'Relics of Ancient English Poetry.' The lines (in the original Scots) begin:-
Balow, my babe, lye still and sleipe. It grieves me sair to see thee weipe.
Brahms writes a lovely little lullaby, the middle part of which, perhaps, reflects the darker sentiments of the poem (the lady, with her child, had been deserted).

THE Devil was known to our ancestors as the -L Father of Lies, and lying has always been regarded by the moralists as one of the cardinal vices on which others turn. On the other hand, lying may be vigorously defended from the social or the worldly points of view, and some of the most attractive characters seem incapable of telling the literal truth. Professor Cock holds the Chair of Education and Philosophy at University College, Southampton, and he is qualified to deal with this intriguing subject in an authoritatively philosophical vein.

5XX Daventry

Appears in

About this data

This data is drawn from the Radio Times magazine between 1923 and 2009. It shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was subject to change and may not be accurate. More