Main content

What's the point of Listening?

Isn’t it great to be able to listen to so much music, to be able to search, scroll and find anything you want? Or is it? Tom Service reflects on how we listen in the digital age.

Isn’t it great to be able to listen to so much music, to be able to search and scroll and find anything you want…? Or to have tracks suggested for you without even thinking about it…? Or is it? Perhaps you miss the days when you had to save up to buy a recording, and you loved it so much you listened over and over again. Or you waited for something to be played on the radio, knowing it might be the only chance you’d have to hear it.

Tom Service explores how we listen today in the digital age and reflects on the pieces of music that changed his life when he heard them first, and then really listened to them, again and again.

Producer: Ruth Thomson

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sun 31 Mar 202417:00
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Needle Drop: the power of classical music in film

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Quartet in D major K.499 (Hoffmeister) for strings: I. Allegretto

    Performer: Chilingirian String Quartet.
    • CRD Records.
    • 708093342723.

  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no. 4 in E flat major (Romantic)

    Conductor: Eugen Jochum. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 4779167.

  • Richard Wagner

    Parsifal, Act I: Prelude

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 00028941334725.

  • James McMillan

    Veni, veni, Emmanuel - concerto for percussion and orchestra

    Performer: Evelyn Glennie. Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Jukka‐Pekka Saraste.
    • RCA.
    • G010001846447Z.

  • Olivier Messiaen

    Turangalila-symphonie: No. 5 - Joie du sang des etoiles

    Conductor: Gustavo Gimeno. Performer: Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • HMM905336.

  • Carl Stamitz

    Clarinet Concerto No 4 in B flat major: I. Allegro

    Performer: Paul Meyer. Orchestra: Kurpfälzisches Kammerorchester. Conductor: Johannes Schlaefli.
    • CPO.
    • 555053-2.

  • Pierre Boulez

    Sonata no. 2 for piano

    Performer: Maurizio Pollini.
    • DG.
    • 4779185.

  • Darius Milhaud

    Le carnaval d'Aix, Op. 83b: VI. Corviello

    Performer: Jack Gibbons. Orchestra: The New London Orchestra. Orchestra: The New London Orchestra. Conductor: Ronald Corp. Conductor: Ronald Corp.
    • Hyperion.
    • CDH55168.

  • Arnold Bax

    The Garden of Fand - symphonic poem

    Conductor: Bryden Thomson. Performer: Ulster Orchestra.
    • CHANDOS.
    • 1605270.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Rapsodie espagnole vers. for orchestra: IV. Feria

    Conductor: Seiji Ozawa. Performer: Boston Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.
    • 439 342-2.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no. 29 in A major K.201: I. Allegro Moderato

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 00028948358922.

  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no. 3 in D minor: I. Gemassigt, mehr bewegt, misterioso

    Conductor: Eugen Jochum. Performer: Staatskapelle Dresden.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 190295270230.

  • Richard Wagner

    Parsifal, Act 1; Vom Bade kehrt der Konig heim (Transformation scene)

    Singer: Peter Hofmann. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • DG.
    • 00028941334725T.

  • Thomas Adès

    Asyla for orchestra

    Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Performer: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 5099950340453.

  • Richard Wagner

    Parsifal, Act I: Prelude

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 00028941334725.

  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no. 4 in E flat major (Romantic): III. Scherzo and trio

    Conductor: Eugen Jochum. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 4779167.

  • Kaija Saariaho

    Innocence

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Choir: Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Conductor: Susanna Mälkki.

  • Philip Glass

    Mad rush for piano/organ

    Performer: Philip Glass.
    • CBS.
    • MK45576.

  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony no. 3 in D minor: I. 1st movement; Gemassigt, mehr bewegt, misterioso

    Conductor: Eugen Jochum. Performer: Staatskapelle Dresden.
    • WARNER CLASSICS.
    • 190295270230.

  • Philip Glass

    Mad rush for piano/organ

    Performer: Philip Glass.
    • CBS.
    • MK45576.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no. 29 in A major K.201: I. Allegro Moderato

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 00028948358922.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No. 15 in A Major, Op.141: I. Allegretto

    Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Performer: Boston Symphony Orchestra.
    • DG.
    • 4860546.

  • Pauline Oliveros

    Suiren

    Performer: Pauline Oliveros. Performer: Panaiotis. Performer: Stuart Dempster.
    • New Albion.
    • NA022CD.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no. 29 in A major K.201: I. Allegro Moderato

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DG.
    • 00028948358922.

Broadcast

  • Sun 31 Mar 202417:00
    BBC Radio 3

Why do we call it 'classical' music?

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

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 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?

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

Watch the animations

Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.

When does noise become music?

When does noise become music?

We like to think we can separate “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?

Podcast