The Listening Service Podcast
Rethink music with The Listening Service. Tom Service presents a journey of imagination and insight, exploring how music works
Episodes to download
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Bartok
Sun 14 Jan 2018
Tom Service explores the unique music of Bela Bartok, including his piano music.
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Style Counsel
Sun 31 Dec 2017
Tom Service dispenses music history style counsel - how to tell what you're listening to.
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Mahler
Sun 3 Dec 2017
Tom Service discovers how Mahler was the first 'non-classical' classical composer.
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Bad Music
Sun 3 Dec 2017
Everyone loves good music but when is music bad? Tom Service brings out the worst!
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The Synthesizer. Hannah Peel, Peter Zinovieff
Sun 12 Nov 2017
Tom Service investigates the rise of the synthesizer, now a common musical instrument.
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Shostakovich's Symphony No 15
Sun 5 Nov 2017
Tom Service unlocks the mysteries of Shostakovich's baffling Symphony No 15.
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Can Music Scare Us?
Sun 29 Oct 2017
Tom Service discovers the darker side of music. With Halloween director John Carpenter.
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Earworms
Sun 15 Oct 2017
Tom Service finds the maddening musical secrets behind earworms with guest Jarvis Cocker.
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Silence!
Sun 8 Oct 2017
Tom Service ponders silence as an integral part of music, from Haydn to James Blake.
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Why is opera so ridiculous?
Sun 1 Oct 2017
Tom Service considers opera - capable of great profundity, why is it also ridiculous?
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Music for Mourning
Sun 24 Sep 2017
Tom Service asks why music has always been an essential part of mourning.
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Codes, Ciphers, Enigmas
Sun 10 Sep 2017
Tom Service delves into codes, ciphers and hidden messages in music.
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Musical Protests
Sun 3 Sep 2017
At The 大象传媒 Proms, The Listening Service discusses the music of revolution and protest.
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The Proms Podcast Episode II - A New Episode
Tue 1 Aug 2017
While The Listening Service takes a break, why not try this episode of The Proms Podcast?
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The Power of Three
Sun 11 Jun 2017
Tom Service asks why we love to harmonise in thirds and why sometimes thirds go rogue.
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Hay Festival 2017
Sun 4 Jun 2017
In a special edition from 2017's Hay Festival, Tom Service explores setting words to music
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Breaking Free: Martin Luther's Revolution
Sun 30 Apr 2017
Tom Service explores the power and politics of communal singing.
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Brahms - Behind the Beard
Sun 23 Apr 2017
Tom Service considers whether Brahms had the most famous beard in classical music.
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Who Wrote the First Folk Song?
Sun 2 Apr 2017
Tom Service considers the question of who wrote the first folk song.
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Music - It's About Time
Sun 19 Mar 2017
Tom Service explores how music warps and changes our sense of how time is flowing.
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Deep Listening: Pauline Oliveros
Sun 5 Mar 2017
Tom Service explores deep listening, a practice created by composer Pauline Oliveros.
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Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Sun 26 Feb 2017
Tom Service explores the finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Why do we call it 'classical' music?
Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).
Six of the world's most extreme voices
From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?
How did the number 12 revolutionise music?
How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.
Why are we all addicted to bass?
Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.
Watch the animations
Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.
When does noise become music?
We like to think we can separate 鈥渘oise鈥� from 鈥渕usic鈥�, but is it that simple?
