The Listening Service: 101 Journeys Through the Musical Universe

by Tom Service

A distillation of Tom Service's critically acclaimed and hugely popular BBC Radio Three programme, The Listening Service, in which he takes an idea on an ear-opening and mind-expanding walk through the musical cosmos every week. Based on his critically-acclaimed BBC Radio 3 programme The Listening Service, in which Tom Service takes an idea on an ear-opening and mind-expanding walk through the musical landscape every week, this book is a celebration of music's multi-dimensional power in our lives.

With 101 short chapters based on the programmes and grouped thematically the book will open ears and imaginations to find answers to the questions we all have about why and how music - from Toots and the Maytals and J S Bach, Gustav Mahler and Miley Cyrus, to Anna Meredith and Mozart - works its magic over us. With direct links to the programmes using a QR code, the chapters draw on powerful and communicative anecdotes and analogies, as well as the latest scientific research, and above all, a spirit of discovery and connection across genres, cultures, and histories. At its heart is the conviction that music changes us.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

300 pages, Hardcover

First published May 19, 2022

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok so now I've finished the book I can start reading it again! I had intended to read this one chapter by chapter sampling all the recommended music in each along with it. However, after enjoying the first two, and listening to the associated original BBC Radio 3 programmes, I was too impatient to read and learn more and deferred further aural pleasure (apart from a few I couldn't resist along the way). With five examples to hear appended to each chapter plus even more mentioned in the texts, this book will be in use for a very long time. Thank you, Tom Service, for more background info on music I already love, for introducing me to loads more I haven't yet heard and for re-introducing me to Radio 3.

[Dominic Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snippets from the radio show with links via QR codes. This tremendous book lifts the lid on so much of the musical world. A book to read, dip into and relish.