Main content

Tom rides a rollercoaster with composer Anna Meredith to understand how music gets our hearts racing.

A rollercoaster of a show as Tom experiences how music gets our hearts racing. How do composers from Bach to Jarvis Cocker manipulate speed in music? How can a slow movement by Sibelius be 'faster' than 'speedcore' dance music? Tom takes us inside the mechanics of speed, and discovers that Sibelius controls our heart rate in symphonic music in the same way that a DJ in Ibiza does as their set unfolds. Just to put his theories to the test, Tom rides a roller coaster with the composer Anna Meredith who explains how those mighty rides do much the same thing as she does when writing the music designed to get our pulse rate up.

Available now

29 minutes

Last on

Sun 7 Oct 2018 17:00
±«Óătv Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Technical Mastery

Next

The Cowpat Controversy

See all episodes from The Listening Service

Clip

Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony no. 34 (K.338) in C major, 1st movement - Allegro vivace

    Performer: English Chamber Orchestra. Performer: Jeffrey Tate.
    • EMI.

  • Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no. 9, 4th movement - Adagio

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Leonard Bernstein.
    • DG.

  • Ornette Coleman

    Change of the Century

    Performer: Ornette Coleman. Performer: Don Cherry. Performer: Charlie Haden. Performer: Billy Higgins.
    • Atlantic.

  • Dave Mustaine

    Wake Up Dead

    Performer: Megadeth.
    • Capitol.

  • Brian Eno

    Music for Airports 1/1

    Composer: Rhett Davies. Composer: Robert Wyatt. Performer: Brian Eno. Performer: Robert Wyatt.
    • EG Records.

  • Steve Reich

    Six pianos (Six marimbas) - piano version 1973; rescored for marimbas 1986

    Performer: Steve Chambers. Performer: James Preiss. Performer: Russell Hartenberger. Performer: Bob Becker. Performer: Steve Reich. Performer: Glen Valez.
    • DG CLASSIKON.

  • New Order

    Blue Monday

    • Factory.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, Final movement

    Performer: Musica Antiqua Köln. Performer: Reinhard Goebel.
    • ARCHIV.

  • m1dy

    SpeedCoreDandy

    Performer: m1dy.
    • Maddest Chic’ndom.

  • Robert Schumann

    Symphony No. 2 - Adagio

    Performer: Orchestra Revolutionaire et Romantique. Performer: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ARCHIV.

  • Wink

    Higher State of Consciousness

    Performer: Wink.
    • Manifesto.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony no. 5 in E flat major Op.82, 1st movement - Tempo molto moderato......

    Performer: ±«Óătv Philharmonic. Performer: John StorgĂ„rds.
    • CHANDOS.

  • Pulp

    Common People

    Performer: Pulp.
    • Island.

  • Anna Meredith

    Orlok

    Performer: Anna Meredith.
    • Moshi Moshi Records.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No. 7 in A major

    Performer: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Performer: Charles Mackerras.
    • HYPERION.

Broadcast

  • Sun 7 Oct 2018 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 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?

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