Hay Festival 2017

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

• 41 mins

The Power of Three

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

• 29 mins

I Got Rhythm

Tom Service discovers why we find rhythm irresistible.

• 28 mins

Drones

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

• 28 mins

Extreme Voices

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

• 28 mins

The Proms Podcast Episode II - A New Episode

While The Listening Service takes a break, why not try this episode of The Proms Podcast?

• 23 mins

Musical Protests

At The BBC Proms, The Listening Service discusses the music of revolution and protest.

• 29 mins

Codes, Ciphers, Enigmas

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

• 28 mins

Music for Mourning

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

• 28 mins

Why is opera so ridiculous?

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

• 29 mins

Silence!

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

• 28 mins

Earworms

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

• 28 mins

Can Music Scare Us?

Tom Service discovers the darker side of music. With Halloween director John Carpenter.

• 28 mins

Shostakovich's Symphony No 15

Tom Service unlocks the mysteries of Shostakovich's baffling Symphony No 15.

• 28 mins

The Synthesizer. Hannah Peel, Peter Zinovieff

Tom Service investigates the rise of the synthesizer, now a common musical instrument.

• 28 mins

Pranked!

Tom Service on the motivation and aesthetic value of musical hoaxes.

• 28 mins

Bad Music

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

• 28 mins

Mahler

Tom Service discovers how Mahler was the first 'non-classical' classical composer.

• 28 mins

The Joy of Bach

Tom Service celebrates The Joy of Bach.

• 29 mins

Style Counsel

Tom Service dispenses music history style counsel - how to tell what you're listening to.

• 28 mins

Bartok

Tom Service explores the unique music of Bela Bartok, including his piano music.

• 28 mins

From the New World?

Tom Service examines Dvorak's 'New World' Symphony.

• 29 mins

I guess that's why they call it the Blues

Tom Service discovers 'the Blues', from its earliest origins to its widest influence.

• 28 mins

Sonata Form - or There and Back Again

In this edition of The Listening Service, Tom Service tells stories in sonata form.

• 28 mins

Debussy the Impressionist?

Tom Service considers whether Claude Debussy was an impressionist or not.

• 29 mins

The French Horn Unwound

Tom Service on the enduring appeal of the 12-foot metal tube that is the French horn.

• 28 mins

The Listening Service at Free Thinking

Tom Service explores the idea of polyphony live at the Free Thinking Festival.

• 30 mins

Searching for Paradise

The Listening Service joins the BBC's Civilisations season to sound the divine in music.

• 28 mins

Orientalism and the Music of Elsewhere

Tom Service unpicks western music's debt to the exotic, from Mozart to Ligeti and beyond.

• 28 mins

Drums

Tom Service considers drums - ancient instruments, yet capable of great sophistication.

• 28 mins