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The Listening Service

Rethink music with The Listening Service. Tom Service presents a journey of imagination and insight, exploring how music works

Radio 3,232 episodes

Episodes

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What's the point of Listening?
Tom Service reflects on digital listening and how it impacts our relationship with music.
31 Mar 2024,28 mins
Needle Drop: the power of classical music in film
Tom Service discovers the power of using pre-existing classical music in films.
10 Mar 2024,28 mins
Impassioned argument: Elizabeth Maconchy's string quartets
Tom Service surveys the 13 extraordinary string quartets of Elizabeth Maconchy.
03 Mar 2024,28 mins
Songs of the Moon
Tom Service takes us on a musical voyage to the moon (and back).
25 Feb 2024,28 mins
'Pathétique'
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service.
04 Feb 2024,28 mins
Turangalila!
Tom Service travels deep into Olivier Messiaen's epic Turangalila Symphony.
21 Jan 2024,29 mins
Jumping Fleas: the rise and rise of the Ukulele
Tom Service explores the world of the Ukulele with virtuoso Taimane Gardner.
14 Jan 2024,29 mins
Resolutions
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service.
31 Dec 2023,29 mins
New York, New York!
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's Tom Service, exploring the music of The Big Apple.
10 Dec 2023,29 mins
The Trombone Section
What is the role of the trombone section in orchestras, and why do they come in threes?
26 Nov 2023,29 mins
The Old Testament of Music
Tom Service explores JS Bach's extraordinary The Well-Tempered Clavier.
19 Nov 2023,29 mins
In it to win it
Tom Service explores the enduring, worldwide appeal of classical music competitions.
05 Nov 2023,29 mins
Hitting the High Notes
Tom Service explores the enduring appeal of the tenor voice.
29 Oct 2023,29 mins
Unripe Cherries: Brahms's Symphony No 4
Tom explores one of the most popular works of all time, Brahms's Symphony No 4 in E minor.
22 Oct 2023,29 mins
The Ethereal
Tom Service explores the ethereal in music.
08 Oct 2023,29 mins
Strange Tuning
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service.
01 Oct 2023,30 mins
Gloria!
Tom Service immerses himself in the joyous world of Poulenc's Gloria.
17 Sep 2023,29 mins
What's the Point of Symphonies?
What exactly is a symphony, and are they just a thing of classical music's past?
10 Sep 2023,29 mins
What's on the programme?
Tom Service explores the art of concert programming.
09 Jul 2023,29 mins
All American Ives?
What links baseball, life insurance and American art music? Charles Ives does!
25 Jun 2023,29 mins
Surround Sound: Tallis's Spem in alium
Tom Service surrounds himself in Tallis's 40-part Renaissance masterpiece.
18 Jun 2023,28 mins
Artificial intelligence and music
Tom Service programmes himself into the matrix of musical artificial intelligence.
04 Jun 2023,29 mins
Ravel's Bolero: A Piece without Music?
Tom Service explores Maurice Ravel's Bolero.
28 May 2023,29 mins
Secret Music: Byrd's Masses
How did William Byrd come to compose three mass settings when celebrating mass was banned?
14 May 2023,29 mins
All the King's Music
Tom Service assesses the history of the post of master of the king's (or queen's) music.
07 May 2023,29 mins
Once upon a time... The Fairy-tale Operas of Judith Weir
Tom Service delves into the deep (and often dark) worlds of Judith Weir's dramatic works.
23 Apr 2023,29 mins
Wild Isles: Wild Music
Tom Service explores musical evocations of wilderness and the natural world.
09 Apr 2023,29 mins
Stravinsky, the puppet master: Petrushka
Tom Service delves into the extraordinary world of Stravinsky's ballet Petrushka.
26 Mar 2023,29 mins
Here Comes the Bride
Tom Service with a guide to music written for and performed at weddings.
19 Mar 2023,29 mins
Bluebeard's Castle: Enter at Your Peril
Tom Service intrepidly explores Bluebeard's Castle, Bartok's one-act symbolist opera.
12 Mar 2023,29 mins