Tom Service
Columnist, BBC Music Magazine
Tom Service is a familiar voice to BBC Radio 3 listeners, the station on which he has presented Music Matters since 2003 and his own programme The Listening Service, in which he breaks down how music works. He is also a monthly columnist for BBC Music Magazine. For many years, Service wrote for The Guardian, where he was chief classical music critic. In 2012, he released two books published by Faber: Music as Alchemy: Journeys with Great Conductors and their Orchestras and Thomas Adès: Full of Noises, a series of conversations with the great composer and conductor. His PhD, undertaken at the University of Southampton, was on the music of contemporary composer and musician John Zorn.
Recent articles by Tom Service
Music has the power to save the planet. Here’s how
As he relives a memorable evening at the BBC Proms, Tom Service ponders how music might make us reconsider our relationship with the world around us
The most terrifying jump scares in classical music
Who needs visuals? The great composers are masters at getting us jumping out of our skins with just the terrifying force of music,
as Tom Service explains
Forget Tinder: join a Proms queue and fall in love
From an indicator of ongoing popularity to an unlikely dating service, the queue to buy tickets for the Proms is an institution we should cherish, says Tom Service
How brain cells grown in a lab are allowing a composer to write music... after his death
Tom Service’s mind boggles as he explains how science has enabled an American composer to continue writing music… some four years after his death
Could dinosaurs sing? Science reveals their surprisingly melodious voices
Forget those terrifying low-pitched roars – scientific research suggests that dinosaur voices may have been more tuneful than we think, reveals Tom Service
Charlie Chaplin was an incredible actor… he was also the most important film composer of the 20th century
Charlie Chaplin was the most significant cinematic composer of the 20th century, says Tom Service, and his music is now more relevant than ever before
Which classical musicians should be the stars of Hollywood blockbusters?
Hollywood has taken an unexpected interest in classical music of late, says Tom Service – so here are some suggestions for their next blockbusting successes
Ravel Bolero: the 15-minute piece 'without music' that became one of classical music's most iconic works
The Crystal Palace: the famous British concert hall that went down in flames
Until its destruction in the fire of 1936, the Crystal Palace was one of the world’s most exciting music venues, and its legacy still lives on today, writes Tom Service
Here's the one thing about today's classical concerts that Mozart would have found truly bizarre
Audience behaviour has completely changed in one particular regard since Mozart's day, as Tom Service explains
Nature's greatest composers: why male humpback whales sing together in harmony
Over a million years, male humpback whales have developed a repertoire of songs whose purpose scientists are now keen to establish, says Tom Service
Are robotic conductors the future of music – and can they ever be as good as humans?
Just like fads for Tamagotchi and Furbys, robotic conductors are currently flavour of the month – but they’re not a patch on the real thing, says Tom Service
What are microtones? The tiny building blocks of all music...
Though we may not always realise it, microtones – intervals of smaller than a semitone – are all around us when we listen to music, explains Tom Service
Impostor syndrome: why even the greatest performers share our feelings of inadequacy
Even the most elevated artists sometimes suffer from impostor syndrome – but that vulnerability makes them even better musicians, explains Tom Service
Were Bach, Vivaldi and Rossini the real pioneers of disco?
Forget New York’s Studio 54 in the 1970s. For the heart of the disco revolution, head back to Bach, Handel and Rossini in the 18th and 19th centuries, says Tom Service
Sonification: electromagnetic 'music' that can help us understand the secrets of the universe
Sonification allows us to listen to the sounds of the universe – and this wondrous music produces insights beyond our visual awareness, says Tom Service
'His music could have come from another planet': how French composer Erik Satie liberated music
While late-Romanticism was at its height, a cabaret pianist was turning music on its head. Tom Service celebrates the legacy of the great eccentric, Erik Satie
Can music influence political elections?
When it comes to music's influence on elections, modern pop songs like D:Ream’s ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ have their precursors in the 18th century, says Tom Service
New York, New York: why it's the city where music never sleeps - and never will
From the modernist visions of Varèse to the minimalism of Glass and Reich, Tom Service celebrates the rich soundscape of New York, the city that never sleeps
Which came first, music or language? The answer might intrigue you
Did our ancestors speak or sing first? Or are music and language more closely intertwined than anyone ever previously thought, asks Tom Service
Here's why music gives us goosebumps
Why is no one whistling anymore?
These movie directors are using classical music to create viral memes and memorable moments
From Brahms to Samuel Barber, the use of classical music in films can create all sorts of unlikely connections in the minds of the audience, as Tom Service explains
How classical crossover music has fuelled creativity
Though classical crossover is often met with snobbery by purists, historically the phenomenon has acted as a fundamental creative catalyst, says Tom Service