Main content

Everyone loves good music but when is music bad? Tom Service brings out the worst!

Everyone loves good music, but when is music bad? Can we objectively define bad music - are there any rules to help - or is it a matter of taste and fashion? What music was once thought good but we now regard as bad? (And vice versa.)
Join arbiter of taste Tom Service as he dispenses judgment, both considered and otherwise.

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sun 3 Dec 2017 17:00

Music Played

  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony No. 3 in D minor 'Wagner Symphony'; Finale - Allegro

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Bruckner: Complete Symphonies.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no.2 in D major, Op.36 (4th mvt)

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Beethoven: 9 Symphonies: Abbado, Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 8.
  • Richard Wagner

    Tristan und Isolde, Act III; Liebestod

    Performer: Birgit Nilsson. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Performer: Georg Solti.
    • Tristan und Isolde.
    • Decca.
  • The Tweets

    The Birdie song

    • Birdie Song.
    • PRT.
  • Black Lace

    Agadoo

    • Agadoo.
    • Flair Records.
  • Richard Wagner

    Die Meistersinger von NΓΌrnberg; Fanget an! So rief der Lanz in den Wald

    Performer: Ben Heppner. Performer: Bavarian State Opera Orchestra. Performer: Wolfgang Sawallisch.
    • ENI.
  • Judas Priest

    March of the Damned

    • Redeemer of Souls.
    • Epic/Sony Records.
  • The Portsmouth Sinfonia

    Classical Muddly

    Performer: The Portsmouth Sinfonia.
    • Classical Muddly.
    • Springtime Records β€Ž.
  • Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

    Hooked On Classics

    • Hooked On Classics.
    • K-Tel.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony No. 8 in C minor; I Allegro moderato

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Bruckner: Complete Symphonies.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Anton Bruckner

    Symphony No. 8 in C minor; IV Finale - Feierlich, nicht schnell

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Bruckner: Complete Symphonies.
    • Warner Classics.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Concerto for violin and orchestra (Op.35) in D major, 2nd movement; Canzonetta

    Performer: Nicola Benedetti. Performer: Czech Philharmonic. Performer: Jakub HrΕ―Ε‘a.
    • DG.
  • Huey Lewis and the News

    Hip To Be Square

    • Fore!.
    • Chrysalis Records.
  • Alfie Boe and Michael Ball

    Anthem

    • Together.
    • Decca.
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen

    Kontakte

    Performer: Karlheinz Stockhausen. Performer: David Tudor. Performer: Christoph Caskel. Performer: Gottfeid Michael Koenih.
    • Wergo.
  • Richard Wagner

    American Centennial March

    Performer: Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. Performer: Varujan Kojian.
    • Naxos.
  • Peter Skellern

    All or Nothing at All

    • Cheek to Cheek.
    • BMG.

Broadcast

  • Sun 3 Dec 2017 17:00

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 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

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 β€œnoise” from β€œmusic”, but is it that simple?

Podcast