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Ranked Amateurs

Amateur musicians' vital role in music and performance over the last three centuries.

• 29 mins

What Is Sound Art? And Why?

Tom Service considers the rise of sound art. Is it art music or something else?

• 28 mins

Sound of the Underground

What does underground sound like? From earth-inspired music to sounds of the earth itself.

• 29 mins

What's the point of practice?

Does practice make perfect? And what is perfect practice? Tom Service finds out.

• 28 mins

Countertenors - classical rock gods!

A celebration of the male singers who can hit the high notes!

• 28 mins

Better than background music?

Is music for theatre more than just a prop?

• 29 mins

Why do babies love music?

Tom Service asks why we seem to love music from the day we're born - are we born musical?

• 29 mins

Is complicated music better than simple music?

Tom Service looks at complexity in music - can we actually hear what's going on?

• 29 mins

Olivier Messiaen and the Interstellar Call!

In a live edition of The Listening Service, Tom responds to Messiaen’s ‘Interstellar Call’

• 30 mins

All the Tunes

After 1,000 years of written music, can there be any more new tunes?

• 29 mins

The Music of the Night

Tom Service discovers what happens to music at night.

• 29 mins

Al-Andalus: What makes music sound Spanish?

Tom Service looks for the essence of Spain in the music of later centuries.

• 29 mins

Prog Rock - apotheosis or nadir?

Tom Service looks at Prog Rock, and asks: apotheosis of rock music, or vapid pomposity?

• 29 mins

The Simple Truth

When is less more, and less less? How hard is it to achieve meaningful musical simplicity?

• 29 mins

Turn up the Volume, Dial up the Drama

Dynamics are crucial to the dramatic effect of music. Tom Service adjusts the volume.

• 29 mins

The Real Red Priest

Tom Service goes beyond the cliches to explore the music of Antonio Vivaldi.

• 29 mins

How to Compose Music

Where do you start? How do you carry on? What do you need to know?

• 29 mins

The Great Highland Bagpipe

Tom Service goes in search of the Great Highland bagpipe.

• 30 mins

Sad songs say so much

In times of trouble, is sad music what we need?

• 29 mins

Why backing vocals matter

Backing singers and opera choruses - so much more than eye candy and human scenery!

• 29 mins

Parapapampam

It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas. Why is there so much cheesy yuletide music?

• 29 mins

How to love new music

All noise and no good tunes? Tom Service bangs the drum for contemporary classical music.

• 29 mins

Texture

Tom Service considers an often overlooked but vital element of music: its texture.

• 30 mins

Beethoven Unleashed: Getting to grips with Beethoven

He's the most famous composer in western music, but what makes Beethoven Beethoven?

• 30 mins

The music of Kaija Saariaho

Tom Service takes a journey through the music of the Finnish-born, Paris-based composer.

• 29 mins

The String Quartet

Tom Service explores the most celebrated of chamber ensembles, the string quartet.

• 29 mins

More Than the Score

Why are there so many ways to perform the same piece of music? What is interpretation?

• 29 mins

Close Harmony

Tom Service explores the world of close harmony and barbershop singing.

• 29 mins

The Inbetweeners

In between the gaps left by the big names lurks many a forgotten great composer...

• 29 mins

Lisztomania

Tom Service explores the music of Franz Liszt, with help from pianist Mariam Batsashvili.

• 29 mins