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The Musical Memory Palace
Enter the Musical Memory Palace as Aurora Orchestra, conductor Nicholas Collon and memory grandmaster Ed Cooke show you how to memorise the dramatic and complex first movement of Mozart's Symphony No 40.
You can follow the action while you listen using the mnemonic images below – although your imagination will do just as well. All will become clear when you listen to Radio 3 in Concert, first broadcast on Friday 13 October and available for 30 days online.
All images © Jane Mitchell/Ed Cooke/Kate Sutton
The woodpecker
How many woodpeckers?
The woodpeckers fall out of the tree... into a pond?
Shark!
How many sharks?
A lucky escape for the woodpeckers
E.T.
The railway announcement
The scurrying mice
The fight scene (feat. Laurel and Hardy)
The yawn (short and long)
The snooze alarm
The leap out of bed
Getting dressed
Running down the stairs
Congratulations! You’ve just stored the first 100 bars of Mozart’s Symphony No 40 in your memory. Click on the gallery below to view the entire mnemonic score as Aurora Orchestra complete the first movement.
The door to Aurora Orchestra's Musical Memory Palace opens in a concert live from Maida Vale Studios on 13 October, part of BBC Radio 3 and Wellcome Collection's Why Music? The Key To Memory season.
And you can learn more about the amazing power of the human mind with Ed Cooke's guide to remembering complicated things in a simple way.
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Listen: The Musical Memory Palace
Learn how to memorise Mozart in minutes with Aurora Orchestra and a memory grandmaster.
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A memory master's guide to remembering everyday things
Memory grandmaster Ed Cooke has expert tips on memorising everything from shopping lists to pin numbers.
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Why Music? The Key to Memory
Browse all programmes, clips and features from this fascinating season about music and the mind.
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Why the music we love as teens stays with us for life
Cognitive neuropsychologist Dr Catherine Loveday explains why we return to old favourites time after time.
