Tom Service explores how to get a piece of music off to a good start. Read more
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Beginnings
Tom Service explores how to get a piece of music off to a good start.
Repetition
Tom Service and Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis explore why repetition is essential in music.
What is it about Mozart?
Tom Service asks, 'What is it about Mozart?' Rethink music with The Listening Service.
What's All that Noise?
Tom Service asks when is noise just noise, and when is it music.
The Power of Love Songs
Tom Service explores the enduring power of love songs.
How Do You Make a National Anthem?
Tom Service on the music, meaning and occasional madness of national anthems.
Schubert - The Dark Side
Tom Service delves into the dark side of Franz Schubert.
The bells, the bells...
The mystery, magic and music associated with bells.
The Listening Service Extra 9 of 12 - Tennis Partners
Tom looks at Schoenberg’s love of Gershwin, who was also his tennis partner in Hollywood.
The Listening Service Extra 1 of 12 - Who am I?
Schoenberg’s objection to being dubbed a “famous theoretician and controversial musician”
The Listening Service Extra 2 of 12 - Heir to the German Mainstream
Tom looks at why Schoenberg felt a strong lineage from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms and Bach
The Listening Service Extra 3 of 12 - Dissonance
Tom explores what Schoenberg meant by the dissonance and how he broke free from tonality.
The Listening Service Extra 4 of 12 - Schoenberg’s IDEA
Schoenberg’s conception of what the “idea” of a piece of music really was...
The Listening Service Extra 5 of 12 - Boiling Water
Schoenberg’s experience in the new atonal world...
The Listening Service Extra 6 of 12 - Twelve Tones
Schoenberg’s distillation and defence of his theory of composition with 12 tones...
The Listening Service Extra 7 of 12 - Expressive Melodies
Tom looks at Schoenberg’s demonstration of how to harmonize a melody to maximum effect...
The Listening Service Extra 8 of 12 - Alban Berg
We listen to Schoenberg’s praise of his pupil, Alban Berg...
The Listening Service Extra 10 of 12 - Do the correct notes matter?
Tom looks at Schoenberg’s plea to musicians to play the correct notes in his String Trio.
The Listening Service Extra 11 of 12 - Twelve-tone music and its reception
We hear Schoenberg on the reception of his music in America, Europe.
The Listening Service Extra 12 of 12 - Schoenberg’s Compositional Vision
Tom explores how Schoenberg hears the music that he is going to write.
What Makes a Song?
Tom Service explores what makes a good song work.
In space no-one can hear you sing...
Tom Service explores why space-inspired music sounds the way it does.
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Tom Service explores the finale from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Deep Listening: Pauline Oliveros
Tom Service explores deep listening, a practice created by composer Pauline Oliveros.
Music - It's About Time
Tom Service explores how music warps and changes our sense of how time is flowing.
Brevity
Tom Service explores brevity in music in the company of sonic artist JLIAT.
Who Wrote the First Folk Song?
Tom Service considers the question of who wrote the first folk song.
Brahms - Behind the Beard
Tom Service considers whether Brahms had the most famous beard in classical music.
Breaking Free: Martin Luther's Revolution
Tom Service explores the power and politics of communal singing.
Endings
Tom Service explores how pieces of music end, asking what endings mean.
What's the Point of the Conductor?
Tom Service explores the role of the conductor.