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The Listening Service Episodes

  1.

    Maxing out on Minimalism

    Minimalism in music - is less really more?

  2. Devilish Musical Pacts

    Tom Service signs his soul to the devil to explore the Faust story in music.

  3. Orchestral Manoeuvres

    Tom Service considers composers' and audiences' never-ending commitment to orchestras.

  4. The Fifth

    Tom Service savours the sound of the fifth - an interval with many meanings.

  5. Truck Driver Modulation

    Tom Service on the art of the sudden key change - and our love-hate relationship with it.

  6. Igor Stravinsky: Understood Best by Children and Animals

    Tom Service seeks the essence of Igor Stravinsky's seemingly ever-changing musical style.

  7. The Listening Service recorded live at Hay Festival

    The Listening Service recorded live at this year's Hay Festival.

  8. Syncopation Syncopation Syncopation

    What is syncopation? An off-beat edition of The Listening Service. With Tom Service.

  9. What does ancient history really sound like?

    What did the music of Paleolithic caves or Roman arenas actually sound like?

  10. The Sea

    Tom Service explores why and how the sea captures the imaginations of so many musicians.

  11. How does video game music work?

    Tom Service looks to discover the secrets behind our favourite video game music.

  12. Is Music a Universal Language?

    Tom Service asks whether music really is a universal language.

  13. Drums

    Tom Service considers drums - ancient instruments, yet capable of great sophistication.

  14. Orientalism and the Music of Elsewhere

    Tom Service unpicks western music's debt to the exotic, from Mozart to Ligeti and beyond.

  15. Searching for Paradise

    The Listening Service joins the 大象传媒's Civilisations season to sound the divine in music.

  16. The Listening Service at Free Thinking

    Tom Service explores the idea of polyphony live at the Free Thinking Festival.

  17. The French Horn Unwound

    Tom Service on the enduring appeal of the 12-foot metal tube that is the French horn.

  18. Debussy the Impressionist?

    Tom Service considers whether Claude Debussy was an impressionist or not.

  19. Sonata Form - or There and Back Again

    In this edition of The Listening Service, Tom Service tells stories in sonata form.

  20. I guess that's why they call it the Blues

    Tom Service discovers 'the Blues', from its earliest origins to its widest influence.

  21. From the New World?

    Tom Service examines Dvorak's 'New World' Symphony.

  22. Bartok

    Tom Service explores the unique music of Bela Bartok, including his piano music.

  23. Style Counsel

    Tom Service dispenses music history style counsel - how to tell what you're listening to.

  24. The Joy of Bach

    Tom Service celebrates The Joy of Bach.

  25. Mahler

    Tom Service discovers how Mahler was the first 'non-classical' classical composer.

  26. Bad Music

    Everyone loves good music but when is music bad? Tom Service brings out the worst!

  27. Pranked!

    Tom Service on the motivation and aesthetic value of musical hoaxes.

  28. The Synthesizer. Hannah Peel, Peter Zinovieff

    Tom Service investigates the rise of the synthesizer, now a common musical instrument.

  29. Shostakovich's Symphony No 15

    Tom Service unlocks the mysteries of Shostakovich's baffling Symphony No 15.

  30. Can Music Scare Us?

    Tom Service discovers the darker side of music. With Halloween director John Carpenter.

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