Composing the radio: musical collaborations and border crossings in drama and features at the Australian public service broadcaster

This chapter charts the role of music and ‘composition’ in radio ‘plays’, ‘features’ and associated forms made for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) from inception to the early 2000s. Evolving ‘radio-labs’ for radiophonic creation at the ABC, BBC and beyond (often in both formal and informal dialogue), allowed expressive forms of audio literature and performance to flourish and develop to a sophisticated level. Historically and formally, ‘features’ were highly conducive sites for creative exploration, from auteur documentaries to ‘reality-fictions’ and provocative performance works involving writers, producers, performers, and composers. These nourished future imaginaries for radio and its listeners, inspiring an ongoing adventure in sound.