The Listening Service

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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

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Music: Classical

An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service

Rethink music with The Listening Service. Tom Service presents a journey of imagination and insight, exploring how music works

The Listening Service: What is it about Mozart?

What Is It About Mozart?

What is it about Mozart?

BBC Radio 3 - The Listening Service, What is it about Mozart?

Tom Service asks, 'What is it about Mozart?' Rethink music with The Listening Service.

Today, Tom Service asks, 'What is it about Mozart?', in a bid to understand why this composer's music continues to make such an impact. Rethink music with The Listening Service.

The Listening Service - an odyssey through the musical universe with Tom Service. Join him on a journey of imagination and insight, exploring how music works. 

Today's programme asks, "What is it about Mozart?" - how have his life and music become the template for what a composer should be - a child prodigy, a virtuoso, a cultural monument, not to mention a confectionery industry... And is there anything that we can say is uniquely "Mozartean" - what makes his music so distinctive, and why does it connect so readily with audiences? Explore Mozart's music with Tom and see what conclusions you come to.

Each week, Tom aims to open our ears to different ways of imagining a musical idea, a work, or a musical conundrum, on the premise that “to listen” is a decidedly active verb. 

How does music connect with us, make us feel that gamut of sensations from the fiercely passionate to the rationally intellectual, from the expressively poetic to the overwhelmingly visceral? What’s happening in the pieces we love that takes us on that emotional rollercoaster? And what’s going on in our brains when we hear them?

When we listen - really listen - we’re not just attending to the way that songs, symphonies, and string quartets work as collections of notes and melodies. We’re also creating meanings and connections that reverberate powerfully with other worlds of ideas, of history and culture, as well as the widest range of musical genres. We’re engaging the world with our ears. The Listening Service aims to help make those connections, to listen actively.

Tune in and rethink music with The Listening Service.


Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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The Listening Service

What is it about Mozart?

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