BBC Radio Podcasts from The Listening Service
What's the point of Listening?
Tom Service reflects on digital listening and how it impacts our relationship with music.
Needle Drop: the power of classical music in film
Tom Service discovers the power of using pre-existing classical music in films.
Impassioned argument: Elizabeth Maconchy's string quartets
Tom Service surveys the 13 extraordinary string quartets of Elizabeth Maconchy.
Songs of the Moon
Tom Service takes us on a musical voyage to the moon (and back).
'Pathétique'
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service.
Turangalila!
Tom Service travels deep into Olivier Messiaen's epic Turangalila Symphony.
Jumping Fleas: the rise and rise of the Ukulele
Tom Service explores the world of the Ukulele with virtuoso Taimane Gardner.
Resolutions
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service.
New York, New York!
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's Tom Service, exploring the music of The Big Apple.
The Trombone Section
What is the role of the trombone section in orchestras, and why do they come in threes?
The Old Testament of Music
Tom Service explores JS Bach's extraordinary The Well-Tempered Clavier.
In it to win it
Tom Service explores the enduring, worldwide appeal of classical music competitions.
Hitting the High Notes
Tom Service explores the enduring appeal of the tenor voice.
Unripe Cherries: Brahms's Symphony No 4
Tom explores one of the most popular works of all time, Brahms's Symphony No 4 in E minor.
The Ethereal
Tom Service explores the ethereal in music.
Strange Tuning
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service.
Gloria!
Tom Service immerses himself in the joyous world of Poulenc's Gloria.
What's the Point of Symphonies?
What exactly is a symphony, and are they just a thing of classical music's past?
Musical Time Travel: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis by Vaughan Williams
Tom Service on one of Vaughan Williams' most spellbinding pieces of music.
What's on the programme?
Tom Service explores the art of concert programming.
Secret Music: Byrd's Masses
How did William Byrd come to compose three mass settings when celebrating mass was banned?
All American Ives?
What links baseball, life insurance and American art music? Charles Ives does!
Surround Sound: Tallis's Spem in alium
Tom Service surrounds himself in Tallis's 40-part Renaissance masterpiece.
Artificial intelligence and music
Tom Service programmes himself into the matrix of musical artificial intelligence.
Ravel's Bolero: A Piece without Music?
Tom Service explores Maurice Ravel's Bolero.
All the King's Music
Tom Service assesses the history of the post of master of the king's (or queen's) music.
Once upon a time... The Fairy-tale Operas of Judith Weir
Tom Service delves into the deep (and often dark) worlds of Judith Weir's dramatic works.
Wild Isles: Wild Music
Tom Service explores musical evocations of wilderness and the natural world.
Stravinsky, the puppet master: Petrushka
Tom Service delves into the extraordinary world of Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka.
Here Comes the Bride
Tom Service with a guide to music written for and performed at weddings.
Bluebeard's Castle: Enter at Your Peril
Tom Service intrepidly explores Bluebeard's Castle, Bartok's one-act symbolist opera.
Collage, writ large: Berio's Sinfonia
Tom Service explores Luciano Berio's 1968 Sinfonia for orchestra and 8 amplified voices.
Mystery, rumour and deception: Mozart's Requiem
Tom Service dissects Mozart's final, unfinished masterpiece.
Repetition
Tom Service and Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis explore why repetition is essential in music.
Symphonic Steampunk: Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony
Tom Service dissects Camille Saint-Saëns's Third 'Organ' Symphony.
On the March: Pomp, Circumstance and Dam Busters
Tom Service on musical marches.
David Lang: The Little Match Girl Passion
Tom Service explores Lang's Pulitzer-Prize-winning secular take on the Christian Passion.
Also Sprach Zarathustra: Strauss’s New Dawn
Tom explores a piece composed by Strauss, inspired by Nietzsche and made famous by Kubrick
Britten's Choral Christmas
Tom Service explores the stories behind some of Britten's best-loved festive works.
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune: Half Man, Half Myth, All Debussy
Tom Service plunges into the heady sound world of the Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune.
Kurt Weill and The Threepenny Opera
Tom Service dives into the decadent sound world of Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera.
Steve Reich's Different Trains: Minimalism and Memory
Tom Service explores the minimalist composer Steve Reich's 1988 piece Different Trains.
The Hebrides Overture: Mendelssohn's melodious cave
Tom Service explores the story behind the very first orchestral tone poem.
Musical Ecstasy
Tom Service explores musical ecstasy from techno to classical
Stormy Weather
Tom explores how storms have inspired composers and musicians from Beethoven to Britten.
The Enchantment of Chant
Tom explores how chant has resonated across a thousand years of music.
Abracadabra
Tom Service explores the connections between music and magic.
TV Themes
Tom Service explores television themes with Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley.
The Music of Sound
Tom Service on the mutually creative relationship between music and its surroundings.
What's the point of cadenzas?
Tom Service explores cadenzas with the American pianist Jeremy Denk at the Hay Festival.
Royal Music
Music fit for kings, queens, princes and princesses: but what do we mean by royal music?
Can music be funny?
Tom Service on the art of classical music comedy. And it's not necessarily about timing.
The Musical Recycling Plant
From composers to composters: how and why do composers re-use their own music?
More Than the Score
Why are there so many ways to perform the same piece of music? What is interpretation?
What's in a Name?
Tom Service on the often baffling language of classical music naming and numbering.
Song Cycles and Concept Albums
Tom Service explores the connections between song cycles and concept albums.
Finishing the Hat
Tom Service explores the lyrics and legacy of musical theatre composer Stephen Sondheim.
John Williams - the Force of Music!
Tom Service has a close encounter with the film music of John Williams.
Classical Crossover
Tom Service turns his ears to a musical world where classical and pop converge.
Recorders
Tom Service explores the music and mystery of that schooldays favourite - the recorder.
Dancing about Architecture
Is writing about music really like dancing about architecture?
Playing at sight and playing from memory
Tom Service flexes his musical memory muscles whilst also improving his sight reading.
Making Overtures
Tom Service explores the rise and fall of the musical curtain-raiser.
Handel's Messiah: Hallelujah!
Tom Service lifts the lid on Handel's Messiah.
How to listen to...Erik Satie
Tom Service explores the musical universe of Erik Satie.
The Borrowers
Is using someone else's music in your own big and clever?
Klezmer
Tom Service explores the connections between Klezmer and classical music.
The timeless power of contemporary choral music
Tom Service immerses himself in the resonant sound world of 21st-century choral music.
Eat to the Beat
The many long-standing and sometimes surprising connections between food and music.
Out of Tune
Tom Service asks what it really means to be in tune? In tune with what - or who?
How to listen to... Arvo Pärt
Tom explores Arvo Pärt's music - what makes it so unique and why is it so popular?
Fiddles and Fiddle Tunes
Tom Service explores fiddles and fiddle tunes from around the world.
Themes and Variations
Tom Service explores the endless potential of musical variations on a theme.
Money Makes the Music Go Round
Tom Service explores the relationship between money and music.
How to listen to... Gilbert and Sullivan
Tom Service enters the topsy-turvy world of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Playing Second Fiddle (and Horn and Trumpet...)
The joys and frustrations of being the unsung heroes of the orchestral world.
Brass Bands
Tom Service explores the world of brass bands.
Is Music Good for You?
The tightly entwined relationship of music and our minds.
Tunes for 'Toons
Tom Service explores cartoon music, from manic Mickey Mouse to moody Batman.
Leoš Janáček: music is a being come alive
What makes the extraordinary music of Czech composer Leoš Janáček instantly recognisable?
Perfect Harmony
How does harmony work its magic?
The Viola - Music's Secret Fire
Tom Service explores the viola's secret influence in music.
The Feasibility of Studies
How was the humdrum study transformed by great composers into miniature masterpieces?
Musical Signatures
What gives away a composer's personal style? How can we spot their musical signatures?
Dream Teams
Tom Service explores musical collaborations.
The Inbetweeners
In between the gaps left by the big names lurks many a forgotten great composer...
What if...? Tom's Marvellous Musical Multiverse
Tom Service laments and consoles with some of the great 'what ifs' of music history.
Swing, Rubato and Bounce
Tom Service investigates what happens when musical rhythm is loosened by swing or rubato.
Becoming Beethoven's Fifth
How did Beethoven compose one the most famous works in classical music?
Rewilding Sibelius
Tom Service explores the music of Sibelius as a force of nature.
How to Sing Classical - Vibrato!
Good vibrations or horrible wobbling? Why do singers use vibrato?
Tricky timing
Tom Service on the fascination of out-of-the-ordinary rhythms.
It Takes Two
How did the tango escape its lowly origins to become a world-wide phenomenon?
What makes the organ so mighty?
Tom Service on the majesty of the organ.
Musical Highs
Toms Service explores the way composers engineer musical crescendos and climaxes.
Is Classical music fashionable?
Is classical music in fashion? Who's listening and what are they actually listening to?
HIPP to Be Square
Historically Informed Performance Practice, or HIPP: what is it and why?
Is it canon?
The classical music canon - who decides what's in and what's out? And can it change?
The Goldberg Variations
Tom Service unlocks mysteries of Bach's towering keyboard work The Goldberg Variations.
Going Slow
Tom Service on what happens when our music goes slow.
Music and breathing
How is the rhythm and physicality of our breathing reflected in music?
The Musical Universe of Maurice Ravel
Tom Service scopes the musical world of one of his favourite composers, Maurice Ravel.
Wagner’s Ring Cycle: The Ultimate Box Set Binge
Tom Service explores classical music’s ultimate binge-listening box set - The Ring.
English Music
What makes English music sound English?
Talking in music
Tom Service explores talking in music - from 'sprechgesang' to rap.
Lisztomania
Tom Service explores the music of Franz Liszt, with help from pianist Mariam Batsashvili.
Close Harmony
Tom Service explores the world of close harmony and barbershop singing.
The music of Kaija Saariaho
Tom Service takes a journey through the music of the Finnish-born, Paris-based composer.
Sad songs say so much
In times of trouble, is sad music what we need?
The String Quartet
Tom Service explores the most celebrated of chamber ensembles, the string quartet.
Beethoven Unleashed: Getting to grips with Beethoven
He's the most famous composer in western music, but what makes Beethoven Beethoven?
Texture
Tom Service considers an often overlooked but vital element of music: its texture.
How to love new music
All noise and no good tunes? Tom Service bangs the drum for contemporary classical music.
Parapapampam
It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas. Why is there so much cheesy yuletide music?
Why backing vocals matter
Backing singers and opera choruses - so much more than eye candy and human scenery!
The Great Highland Bagpipe
Tom Service goes in search of the Great Highland bagpipe.
How to Compose Music
Where do you start? How do you carry on? What do you need to know?
The Real Red Priest
Tom Service goes beyond the cliches to explore the music of Antonio Vivaldi.
Turn up the Volume, Dial up the Drama
Dynamics are crucial to the dramatic effect of music. Tom Service adjusts the volume.
The Simple Truth
When is less more, and less less? How hard is it to achieve meaningful musical simplicity?
Prog Rock - apotheosis or nadir?
Tom Service looks at Prog Rock, and asks: apotheosis of rock music, or vapid pomposity?
Al-Andalus: What makes music sound Spanish?
Tom Service looks for the essence of Spain in the music of later centuries.
The Music of the Night
Tom Service discovers what happens to music at night.
All the Tunes
After 1,000 years of written music, can there be any more new tunes?
Olivier Messiaen and the Interstellar Call!
In a live edition of The Listening Service, Tom responds to Messiaen’s ‘Interstellar Call’
Is complicated music better than simple music?
Tom Service looks at complexity in music - can we actually hear what's going on?
Why do babies love music?
Tom Service asks why we seem to love music from the day we're born - are we born musical?
Better than background music?
Is music for theatre more than just a prop?
Countertenors - classical rock gods!
A celebration of the male singers who can hit the high notes!
What's the point of practice?
Does practice make perfect? And what is perfect practice? Tom Service finds out.
Sound of the Underground
What does underground sound like? From earth-inspired music to sounds of the earth itself.
What Is Sound Art? And Why?
Tom Service considers the rise of sound art. Is it art music or something else?
Ranked Amateurs
Amateur musicians' vital role in music and performance over the last three centuries.
Why are classical audiences so quiet?
Tom Service looks at why we are all so tense and silent during classical concerts. Shhhh!
The Power of One
What special magic happens in music where there is no harmony?
Anger in Music
Today at Sage Gateshead Tom finds out how music can induce, express and exorcise anger.
Bruckner and the Symphonic Boa Constrictors
Is listening to a Bruckner symphony really like being crushed to death by a giant snake?
The Double Bass
The elephant in the room? No, the Double Bass is much more.
Can music be gendered?
Can you hear 'masculine' and 'feminine' in music?
Style Counsel
Tom Service dispenses music history style counsel - how to tell what you're listening to.
The Key to Keys
Tom Service asks why western music is in so many different keys and what exactly they are.
Schubert - The Dark Side
Tom Service delves into the dark side of Franz Schubert.
Riffs, loops and ostinati - the art of repeating yourself!
Tom presses repeat - again and again and again ...
Classical Icons
Who are the icons of classical music? And are they born or made?
What Makes a Song?
Tom Service explores what makes a good song work.
The Nutcracker - Strange Enchantments
Think The Nutcracker is a super-saccharine classic for the feelgood season? Think again.
The bells, the bells...
The mystery, magic and music associated with bells.
Concertos: All for one and one for all?
What is a concerto? Tom Service asks how they work and what it is like to be a soloist.
Extreme Classical!
What are the most extreme pieces of classical music ever written?
The Power of Three
Tom Service asks why we love to harmonise in thirds and why sometimes thirds go rogue.
Rossini - Master Chef and Maestro
A celebration of 'Signor Crescendo' Gioachino Rossini, operatic genius and gourmand.
What counts as 'classical music'?
What do we actually mean when we talk about 'classical music'? What is or isn't it?
What's the Point of the Conductor?
Tom Service explores the role of the conductor.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Tom Service explores the finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
The Magical Forest
Enter the magical musical world of the forest. Your guide is Tom Service
The Cowpat Controversy
Calling 20th-century English music 'cowpat music' is just plain rude! And it's inaccurate.
Speed
A rollercoaster of a show as Tom experiences how music gets our hearts racing.
Technical Mastery
Music and technology - what do you do when anything is possible?
In space no-one can hear you sing...
Tom Service explores why space-inspired music sounds the way it does.
Maxing out on Minimalism
Minimalism in music - is less really more?
Searching for Paradise - 2018 Proms Special
Exploring sacred music and how it transports us to the divine.
Virtuosity - 2018 Proms Special
What does it mean to be a good - a really good - musician?
Endings - 2018 Proms Special
Time for the big finish. But what do endings in music mean? Should it all just fade away?
Colour and Music - 2018 Proms Special
Ahead of Prom 45, Tom investigates the link between music and colour
Britten's Sea Interludes - 2018 Proms Special
The sea in all its musical majesty
Folk Music - 2018 Proms Special
Tom delves in to folk music’s mysterious history ahead of Prom 27
Mahler's 8th Symphony - 2018 Proms Special
Dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight
Devilish Musical Pacts
Tom Service signs his soul to the devil to explore the Faust story in music.
Pioneers of Sound - Proms 2018 Special
Why synths are so cool
Orchestral Manoeuvres
Tom Service considers composers' and audiences' never-ending commitment to orchestras.
Beginnings - Proms 2018 Special
Music – where do we start?
The Fifth
Tom Service savours the sound of the fifth - an interval with many meanings.
Truck Driver Modulation
Tom Service on the art of the sudden key change - and our love-hate relationship with it.
Igor Stravinsky: Understood Best by Children and Animals
Tom Service seeks the essence of Igor Stravinsky's seemingly ever-changing musical style.
The Listening Service recorded live at Hay Festival
The Listening Service recorded live at this year's Hay Festival.
Syncopation Syncopation Syncopation
What is syncopation? An off-beat edition of The Listening Service. With Tom Service.
What does ancient history really sound like?
What did the music of Paleolithic caves or Roman arenas actually sound like?
The Sea
Tom Service explores why and how the sea captures the imaginations of so many musicians.
How does video game music work?
Tom Service looks to discover the secrets behind our favourite video game music.
Is Music a Universal Language?
Tom Service asks whether music really is a universal language.
Drums
Tom Service considers drums - ancient instruments, yet capable of great sophistication.
Orientalism and the Music of Elsewhere
Tom Service unpicks western music's debt to the exotic, from Mozart to Ligeti and beyond.
Searching for Paradise
The Listening Service joins the BBC's Civilisations season to sound the divine in music.
The Listening Service at Free Thinking
Tom Service explores the idea of polyphony live at the Free Thinking Festival.
The French Horn Unwound
Tom Service on the enduring appeal of the 12-foot metal tube that is the French horn.
Debussy the Impressionist?
Tom Service considers whether Claude Debussy was an impressionist or not.
Sonata Form - or There and Back Again
In this edition of The Listening Service, Tom Service tells stories in sonata form.
I guess that's why they call it the Blues
Tom Service discovers 'the Blues', from its earliest origins to its widest influence.
From the New World?
Tom Service examines Dvorak's 'New World' Symphony.
Bartok
Tom Service explores the unique music of Bela Bartok, including his piano music.
The Joy of Bach
Tom Service celebrates The Joy of Bach.
Mahler
Tom Service discovers how Mahler was the first 'non-classical' classical composer.
Bad Music
Everyone loves good music but when is music bad? Tom Service brings out the worst!
Pranked!
Tom Service on the motivation and aesthetic value of musical hoaxes.
The Synthesizer. Hannah Peel, Peter Zinovieff
Tom Service investigates the rise of the synthesizer, now a common musical instrument.
Shostakovich's Symphony No 15
Tom Service unlocks the mysteries of Shostakovich's baffling Symphony No 15.
Can Music Scare Us?
Tom Service discovers the darker side of music. With Halloween director John Carpenter.
Earworms
Tom Service finds the maddening musical secrets behind earworms with guest Jarvis Cocker.
Silence!
Tom Service ponders silence as an integral part of music, from Haydn to James Blake.
Why is opera so ridiculous?
Tom Service considers opera - capable of great profundity, why is it also ridiculous?
Music for Mourning
Tom Service asks why music has always been an essential part of mourning.
Musical Protests
At The BBC Proms, The Listening Service discusses the music of revolution and protest.
Codes, Ciphers, Enigmas
Tom Service delves into codes, ciphers and hidden messages in music.
The Proms Podcast Episode II - A New Episode
While The Listening Service takes a break, why not try this episode of The Proms Podcast?
Extreme Voices
Tom Service discovers some of the most extreme vocals in music.
Drones
Tom Service explores the variety of music based on a drone.
I Got Rhythm
Tom Service discovers why we find rhythm irresistible.
Hay Festival 2017
In a special edition from 2017's Hay Festival, Tom Service explores setting words to music
Endings
Tom Service explores how pieces of music end, asking what endings mean.
Breaking Free: Martin Luther's Revolution
Tom Service explores the power and politics of communal singing.
Who Wrote the First Folk Song?
Tom Service considers the question of who wrote the first folk song.
Brahms - Behind the Beard
Tom Service considers whether Brahms had the most famous beard in classical music.
Brevity
Tom Service explores brevity in music in the company of sonic artist JLIAT.
Deep Listening: Pauline Oliveros
Tom Service explores deep listening, a practice created by composer Pauline Oliveros.
Music - It's About Time
Tom Service explores how music warps and changes our sense of how time is flowing.
What's All that Noise?
Tom Service asks when is noise just noise, and when is it music.
The Power of Love Songs
Tom Service explores the enduring power of love songs.
What you see is what you hear?
Tom Service asks if the pictures we see of composers influence the way we hear their music
Virtuosity
Tom Service explores the meaning of musical virtuosity.
Whatever Happened to the Waltz?
Tom Service explores the waltz and why we love to dance to music in triple metre.
Breaking Free: Tom Service on the Second Viennese School
Tom Service considers how to listen to the Second Viennese School.
The Listening Service Extra 12 of 12 - Schoenberg’s Compositional Vision
Tom explores how Schoenberg hears the music that he is going to write.
The Listening Service Extra 11 of 12 - Twelve-tone music and its reception
We hear Schoenberg on the reception of his music in America, Europe.
The Listening Service Extra 10 of 12 - Do the correct notes matter?
Tom looks at Schoenberg’s plea to musicians to play the correct notes in his String Trio.
The Listening Service Extra 9 of 12 - Tennis Partners
Tom looks at Schoenberg’s love of Gershwin, who was also his tennis partner in Hollywood.
The Listening Service Extra 8 of 12 - Alban Berg
We listen to Schoenberg’s praise of his pupil, Alban Berg...
The Listening Service Extra 7 of 12 - Expressive Melodies
Tom looks at Schoenberg’s demonstration of how to harmonize a melody to maximum effect...
The Listening Service Extra 6 of 12 - Twelve Tones
Schoenberg’s distillation and defence of his theory of composition with 12 tones...
The Listening Service Extra 5 of 12 - Boiling Water
Schoenberg’s experience in the new atonal world...
The Listening Service Extra 4 of 12 - Schoenberg’s IDEA
Schoenberg’s conception of what the “idea” of a piece of music really was...
The Listening Service Extra 3 of 12 - Dissonance
Tom explores what Schoenberg meant by the dissonance and how he broke free from tonality.
The Listening Service Extra 2 of 12 - Heir to the German Mainstream
Tom looks at why Schoenberg felt a strong lineage from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bach
The Listening Service Extra 1 of 12 - Who am I?
Schoenberg’s objection to being dubbed a “famous theoretician and controversial musician”
Background Music
Tom Service considers what is background music and how it functions in our lives.
The Semitone
Tom Service on what can be done with the semitone, the smallest interval in western music.
What is it about Mozart?
Tom Service asks, 'What is it about Mozart?' Rethink music with The Listening Service.
Improvisation
Tom Service considers the art of musical improvisation with David Toop and Joelle Leandre.
Cover Versions
Tom Service explores cover versions – from Baroque to pop.
Colour and music
Tom Service explores the link between music and colour. Can music be colourful?
Tristan und Isolde
Tom Service on the supercharged emotional impact of Wagner's epic opera Tristan und Isolde
Sound Frontiers: Listening to Recordings
As part of Radio 3 Live at Southbank Centre, Tom Service explores recorded sound.
Why is music addicted to bass?
Tom Service explores the intrinsic importance to humans of bass in music.
Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto
Tom Service explores Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto.
Transcendence
Tom Service considers musical transcendence.
Chasing a Fugue
Tom Service explores fugues. How do they work and why are they important?
Why does music move us?
Tom Service investigates how music can tug on our heartstrings like nothing else.
Beethoven - Hero or Villain?
Tom Service asks if posterity's casting of Beethoven as a hero is problematic.
Is Birdsong Music?
Tom Service asks how birdsong has inspired and equipped human music over the years.
How do you describe a teaspoon in music?
Tom Service explores music's power to describe, illustrate and tell stories in sound.
How Do You Make a National Anthem?
Tom Service on the music, meaning and occasional madness of national anthems.
Beginnings
Tom Service explores how to get a piece of music off to a good start.