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Riffs, loops and ostinati - the art of repeating yourself!

Tom Service presses repeat on the ostinato, from the Italian for "stubborn" - a looping phrase in music that can hypnotise or even nag the listener .

Tom Service investigates the ostinato, a repeated phrase in music that can nag or hypnotise the listener (the word derives from the Italian for "stubborn "). From Ravel's Bol茅ro to Donna Summer's "I Feel Love", the ostinato is everywhere in music - driving the crescendo of Rossini's William Tell overture, underpinning the primitive ritual dances of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring - but is it an accompaniment or a riff? A rhythm or a tune? Tom finds it can be all those things and more....

Available now

31 minutes

Last on

Sun 27 Jan 2019 17:00

Music Played

  • B茅la Bart贸k

    Mikrokosmos - volume 4 Sz.107 for piano

    Performer: Deszo Ranki.
    • Teldec.
    • 9031761392.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Concerto no. 11 in G minor Op.7`5 for organ and orchestra

    Performer: Paul Nicholson. Performer: Brandenburg Consort.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDD22052.
  • Led Zeppelin

    Whole Lotta Love

    • ATLANTIC.
    • 7567-80415.
  • DAVIS

    NEVER CAN SAY GOODBYE

    Performer: Gloria Gaynor.
    • POLYDOR.
    • 519-665-2.
  • Maurice Ravel

    Bolero for orchestra

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.
    • 415972-2.
  • George Gershwin

    Crazy for you - musical

    Performer: Fred Astaire.
    • Columbia.
    • C2K 44233.
  • Julius Eastman

    Stay on it

    Conductor: Petr Kotik. Performer: Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990).
    • new world records.
    • 80638 2.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Concerto no. 11 in G minor Op.7`5 for organ and orchestra

    Performer: Paul Nicholson. Performer: Brandenburg Consort.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDD22052.
  • B茅la Bart贸k

    Mikrokosmos - volume 4 Sz.107 for piano

    Performer: Deszo Ranki.
    • Teldec.
    • 9031761392.
  • KNOPFLER

    Money for Nothing

    Performer: Dire Straits.
    • VERTIGO.
    • VERH-64.
  • Deep Purple

    Smoke On The Water

    • EMI.
    • 0777-7 81009 2 8.
  • Led Zeppelin

    Kashmir

    • ATLANTIC.
    • 82144.
  • Johann Pachelbel

    Canon and gigue in D major for 3 violins and continuo

    Performer: Musica Antiqua K枚ln.
    • 4105022.
    • archiv.
  • Johann Pachelbel

    VARIATIONS ON PACHELBEL'S CANON

    Performer: Ed Alleyne鈥怞ohnson.
    • WINGSPAN.
    • WING CD-3.
  • Michael Nyman

    The Draughtsman's contract - music for the film

    Performer: Michael Nyman Band.
    • CHARISMA.
    • CASCD-1158.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Sonata in C major K.545 for piano

    Performer: Marc-Andr茅 Hamelin.
    • Hyperion.
    • CDA 68029.
  • Joseph Haydn

    Sonata in C major H.16.35 for piano

    Performer: Gy枚rgy Seb枚k.
    • FIRST HAND RECORDINGS.
    • FHR40.
  • Muzio Clementi

    Sonatina in C major Op.36`3 for piano

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Sonatina in G major K.Anh.5`1 for piano, attrib. Beethoven

    Performer: Jen艖 Jand贸.
    • NAXOS.
    • 857807374.
  • Philip Glass

    Glassworks for ensemble/piano

    Performer: Philip Glass Ensemble.
    • sony classical.
    • SMK 87968.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no. 3 in D minor [all versions]

    Conductor: G眉nter Wand. Performer: North German Radio Orchestra.
    • BMG.
    • 09026613742.
  • William Walton

    Symphony no. 1 in B flat minor

    Performer: Andr茅 Previn. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.
    • DG87830.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony no. 10 in E minor Op.93

    Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra.
    • EMI.
    • 747350-2.
  • Donna Summer

    I Feel Love

    • CASABLANCA.
    • 518-1442.
  • Maurice Ravel

    Bolero for orchestra

    Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.
    • 415972-2.
  • Alexandr Vasil'yevich Mosolov

    The Iron foundry [Zavod] Op.19

    Conductor: Evgeny Fyodorovich Svetlanov. Performer: (USSR RADIO CHOR) USSR Radio Symphony Chorus.
    • Melodiya.
    • 74321562632.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    The Rite of Spring

    Conductor: Yoel Levi. Performer: Atlanta S O.
    • telarc.
    • CD80266.
  • Igor Stravinsky

    Symphony of psalms

    Conductor: Nigel Short. Performer: 大象传媒 S O..
    • SIGNUM CLASSICS.
    • SIGCD492.
  • Julius Eastman

    Stay on it

    Conductor: Petr Kotik. Performer: Julius Eastman (1940 - 1990).
    • new world records.
    • 80638 2.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Symphony no. 4 in E minor Op.98

    Conductor: Carlos Kleiber. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.
    • DG.
    • 4577062.
  • Donna Summer

    I Feel Love

    • CASABLANCA.
    • 518-1442.

Broadcast

  • Sun 27 Jan 2019 17:00

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