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The Listening Service Episodes

  1.

    Earworms

    Tom Service finds the maddening musical secrets behind earworms with guest Jarvis Cocker.

  2. Silence!

    Tom Service ponders silence as an integral part of music, from Haydn to James Blake.

  3. Why is opera so ridiculous?

    Tom Service considers opera - capable of great profundity, why is it also ridiculous?

  4. Music for Mourning

    Tom Service asks why music has always been an essential part of mourning.

  5. Codes, Ciphers, Enigmas

    Tom Service delves into codes, ciphers and hidden messages in music.

  6. Musical Protests

    At The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Proms, The Listening Service discusses the music of revolution and protest.

  7. Extreme Voices

    Tom Service discovers some of the most extreme vocals in music.

  8. Drones

    Tom Service explores the variety of music based on a drone.

  9. I Got Rhythm

    Tom Service discovers why we find rhythm irresistible.

  10. The Power of Three

    Tom Service asks why we love to harmonise in thirds and why sometimes thirds go rogue.

  11. Hay Festival 2017

    In a special edition from 2017's Hay Festival, Tom Service explores setting words to music

  12. What's the Point of the Conductor?

    Tom Service explores the role of the conductor.

  13. Endings

    Tom Service explores how pieces of music end, asking what endings mean.

  14. Breaking Free: Martin Luther's Revolution

    Tom Service explores the power and politics of communal singing.

  15. Brahms - Behind the Beard

    Tom Service considers whether Brahms had the most famous beard in classical music.

  16. Who Wrote the First Folk Song?

    Tom Service considers the question of who wrote the first folk song.

  17. Brevity

    Tom Service explores brevity in music in the company of sonic artist JLIAT.

  18. Music - It's About Time

    Tom Service explores how music warps and changes our sense of how time is flowing.

  19. Deep Listening: Pauline Oliveros

    Tom Service explores deep listening, a practice created by composer Pauline Oliveros.

  20. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony

    Tom Service explores the finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

  21. In space no-one can hear you sing...

    Tom Service explores why space-inspired music sounds the way it does.

  22. What you see is what you hear?

    Tom Service asks if the pictures we see of composers influence the way we hear their music

  23. What Makes a Song?

    Tom Service explores what makes a good song work.

  24. Virtuosity

    Tom Service explores the meaning of musical virtuosity.

  25. Whatever Happened to the Waltz?

    Tom Service explores the waltz and why we love to dance to music in triple metre.

  26. Breaking Free: Tom Service on the Second Viennese School

    Tom Service considers how to listen to the Second Viennese School.

  27. The bells, the bells...

    The mystery, magic and music associated with bells.

  28. Background Music

    Tom Service considers what is background music and how it functions in our lives.

  29. The Semitone

    Tom Service on what can be done with the semitone, the smallest interval in western music.

  30. Improvisation

    Tom Service considers the art of musical improvisation with David Toop and Joelle Leandre.

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