The Power of Love Songs
Tom Service explores the enduring power of love songs. Including critic Ted Gioia on ancient hymns to love, tenor Ian Bostridge on lieder, and love as a subversive force in opera.
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.
With Valentines Day just around the corner, Tom explores the enduring power of love songs. He talks to Ted Gioia, author of Love Songs: The Hidden History who explains that the very first traces of writing in human history are hymns to love. The tenor Ian Bostridge reflects on the inward-looking art of Lieder and what they tell us about true love in the Romantic era. And Tom turns to the operatic stage for some of the ultimate expressions of love as a subversive and even revolutionary force, showing how Verdi and Strauss used thwarted lovers in their operas to shine a light on the hypocrisy and gender politics of their times.
Tune in and rethink music with The Listening Service.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Clip
-
![]()
Who wrote the first love song?
Duration: 02:45
Music Played
-
![]()
Giacomo Puccini
La Boheme - opera in 4 acts, Act 1; O soave fanciulla
Performer: Anna Netrebko. Performer: Rolando Villazón. Performer: Staatskapelle Dresden. Performer: Nicola Luisotti.- Puccini: La Bohème.
- DG.
-
![]()
Robert Palmer
Addicted to Love
- Riptide.
- Island Records.
-
![]()
Jaufré Rudel
Le Depart: Qui non sap chanter
Performer: La Compaignie Medievale. Performer: PIERRE VERNAY.- Troubadour - Instrumental & Vocal Music Of The 12th Century.
- Disques Pierre Verany ‎.
-
![]()
Elton John
Your Song
- Elton John.
- Island/mercury.
-
![]()
Claudio Monteverdi
Pur ti miro, pur ti godo (L'Incoronazione di Poppea)
Singer: Elin Manahan Thomas. Singer: Robin Blaze. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Harry Christophers.- Elin Manahan-Thomas - Eternal Light.
- HELIODOR.
-
![]()
Richard Wagner
O SINK HERNIEDER, Nacht der Liebe from Tristan Und Isolde
Performer: René Kollo. Performer: Margaret Price. Performer: Staatskapelle Dresden. Performer: Carlos Kleiber.- Tristan Und Isolde.
- DG.
-
![]()
Calvin Harris & Rihanna
This Is What You Came For (feat. Rihanna)
- This Is What You Came For.
- Sony Music.
-
![]()
The Beatles
All You Need Is Love
- Magical Mystery Tour.
- Capitol.
-
![]()
Franz Schubert
Standchen from Scwanengesang
Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.- Scwanengesang.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
-
![]()
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Fantasy Overture: Romeo & Juliet
Performer: Budapest Festival Orchestra. Performer: Iván Fischer.- Romeo & Juliet.
- CHANNEL.
-
![]()
Georges Bizet
Carmen - Act 1; L'Amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habanera)
Performer: Teresa Berganza. Performer: Ambrosian Singers. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Claudio Abbado.- 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon.
- DG.
-
![]()
Joni Mitchell
A Case Of You
- Blue.
- Reprise.
-
![]()
Franz Schubert
Die Taubenpost from Schwanengesang
Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Paul Lewis.- Schwanengesang.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
-
![]()
Robert Schumann
Ein Jungling liebt ein Madchen from Dichterliebe, Op.48
Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Julius Drake.- Schumann: Dichterliebe.
- EMI.
-
![]()
Franz Schubert
Standchen from Scwanengesang
Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Julius Drake.- Scwanengesang.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
-
![]()
Franz Schubert
Die Taubenpost from Schwanengesang
Performer: Mark Padmore. Performer: Julius Drake.- Scwanengesang.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
-
![]()
Giuseppe Verdi
Brindisi from La Traviata
Performer: Choir of the Bavarian State Opera. Performer: Bavarian State Orchestra. Performer: Carlos Kleiber.- La Traviata.
- DG.
- 2.
-
![]()
Giuseppe Verdi
Un di, quando le veneri from La Traviata
Performer: Choir of the Bavarian State Opera. Performer: Bavarian State Orchestra. Performer: Carlos Kleiber. Performer: Plácido Domingo. Performer: Ileana Cotrubaș.- La Traviata.
- DG.
- 9.
-
![]()
Giuseppe Verdi
Addio del passato from La Traviata
Performer: Choir of the Bavarian State Opera. Performer: Bavarian State Orchestra. Performer: Carlos Kleiber. Performer: Ileana CotrubaČ™.- La Traviata.
- DG.
- 18.
-
![]()
Giuseppe Verdi
Prendi, quest’e l’immagine from La Traviata
Performer: Choir of the Bavarian State Opera. Performer: Bavarian State Orchestra. Performer: Carlos Kleiber. Performer: Ileana CotrubaČ™.- La Traviata.
- DG.
- 23.
-
![]()
Kylie Minogue
Can't Get You Out Of My Head
- Can't Get You Out of My Head.
- EMI Digital / Parlophone.
-
![]()
Britney Spears
Toxic
- Toxic.
- BMG.
-
![]()
Cathy Dennis
Never Had a Dream Come True
Performer: S Club.- Never Had a Dream Come True.
- Polydor.
-
![]()
Bessie Smith
Empty Bed Blues
- Ladies Sing the Blues.
- ASV.
-
![]()
Richard Strauss
Hab’ mir’s gelobt from Der Rosenkavalier
Performer: Christa Ludwig. Performer: Teresa Stich-Randall. Performer: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.- Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier.
- EMI.
-
![]()
Wings
Silly Love Songs
- Wingspan: Hits and History.
- Universal.
Broadcasts
- Sun 29 May 2016 17:00±«Óătv Radio 3
- Sun 12 Feb 2017 17:00±«Óătv Radio 3
Why do we call it 'classical' music?
Tom Service poses a very simple question (with a not-so-simple answer).
Six of the world's most extreme voices
From babies to Mongolian throat singers: whose voice is the most extreme of all?
How did the number 12 revolutionise music?
How Schoenberg opened a new cosmos for composers and listeners to explore.
Why are we all addicted to bass?
Bass is everywhere, but why do we enjoy it? Join Tom Service on a journey of discovery.
Watch the animations
Join Tom Service on a musical journey through beginnings, repetition and bass lines.
When does noise become music?
We like to think we can separate “noise” from “music”, but is it that simple?
Podcast
-
![]()
The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service
