The Listening Service Podcast
Rethink music with The Listening Service. Tom Service presents a journey of imagination and insight, exploring how music works
UK Only
Episodes to download
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What counts as "classical music"?
Last Sunday
What do we actually mean when we talk about "classical music"?
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Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Sun 26 Feb 2017
Tom Service explores the finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
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The Magical Forest
Sun 21 Oct 2018
Enter the magical musical world of the forest. Your guide is Tom Service
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The Cowpat Controversy
Sun 14 Oct 2018
Calling 20th Century English music 'cowpat music' is just plain rude! And it's inaccurate.
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Technical Mastery
Sun 30 Sep 2018
Music and technology - what do you do when everything is possible?
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In space no-one can hear you sing...
Sun 19 Feb 2017
Tom Service explores why space-inspired music sounds the way it does.
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Searching for Paradise - 2018 Proms Special
Sun 2 Sep 2018
Exploring sacred music and how it transports us to the divine.
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Virtuosity - 2018 Proms Special
Sun 26 Aug 2018
What does it mean to be a good - a really good - musician?
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Endings - 2018 Proms Special
Sun 19 Aug 2018
Time for the big finish. But what do endings in music mean? Should it all just fade away?
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Colour and Music - 2018 Proms Special
Sun 12 Aug 2018
Ahead of Prom 45, Tom investigates the link between music and colour
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Folk Music - 2018 Proms Special
Sun 29 Jul 2018
Tom delves in to folk music’s mysterious history ahead of Prom 27
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Mahler's 8th Symphony - 2018 Proms Special
Mon 23 Jul 2018
Dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight
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Devilish Musical Pacts
Sun 22 Jul 2018
Tom Service signs his soul to the devil to explore the Faust story in music.
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Orchestral Manoeuvres
Sun 15 Jul 2018
Tom Service considers composers' and audiences' never-ending commitment to orchestras.
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The Fifth
Sun 1 Jul 2018
Tom Service savours the sound of the fifth - an interval with many meanings.
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Truck Driver Modulation
Sun 24 Jun 2018
Tom Service on the art of the sudden key change - and our love-hate relationship with it.
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Igor Stravinsky: Understood Best by Children and Animals
Sun 17 Jun 2018
Tom Service seeks the essence of Igor Stravinsky's seemingly ever-changing musical style.
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The Listening Service recorded live at Hay Festival
Sun 3 Jun 2018
The Listening Service recorded live at this year's Hay Festival.
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Syncopation Syncopation Syncopation
Sun 20 May 2018
What is syncopation? An off-beat edition of The Listening Service. With Tom Service.
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What does ancient history really sound like?
Sun 13 May 2018
What did the music of Paleolithic caves or Roman arenas actually sound like?
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The Sea
Sun 6 May 2018
Tom Service explores why and how the sea captured the imaginations of so many musicians.
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How does video game music work?
Sun 29 Apr 2018
Tom Service looks to discover the secrets behind our favourite video game music.
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Is Music a Universal Language?
Sun 22 Apr 2018
Tom Service asks whether music really is a universal language.
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Drums
Sun 8 Apr 2018
Tom Service considers drums - ancient instruments, yet capable of great sophistication.
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 “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?
