All the Tunes
After 1,000 years of written music, are there any more tunes left to be composed? What makes a great tune, how hard is it to write one and what connects them across the centuries?
What links pre-war picker George Formby and Wagner, US rock duo The White Stripes and Bruckner, crooning legend Barry Manilow and Chopin? The surprising answer is that they've all shared tunes. Is that because, after 1,000 years of written music, there are no tunes left? What are the essential ingredients of a great tune and how difficult is it to write one?
Tom Service seeks answers with the help of maths man Marcus du Sautoy and composer Jessica Curry.
David Papp (producer)
Last on
More episodes
Music Played
-
![]()
Noel Gay
I'm leaning on a lamp post
Performer: GEORGE FORMBY.- ACE OF CLUBS.
- ACL-1062.
-
![]()
Richard Wagner
Parsifal - opera in 3 acts
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.- DG.
- 4133472.
-
![]()
Richard Strauss
Tod und Verklarung Op.24
Conductor: Herbert Blomstedt. Performer: San Francisco S O.- DECCA.
- 4833974.
-
![]()
John Williams
Superman: Love Theme
Performer: John Williams. Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.- WARNER.
- 32572.
-
![]()
CAST OF JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
I Don't Know How to Love Him
- MCA.
- MCAD2-11757.
-
![]()
Felix Mendelssohn
Concerto in E minor Op.64 for violin and orchestra
Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy. Performer: James Ehnes. Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra.- ONYX.
- ONYX4060.
-
![]()
TOM MILES
Classic FM Jingle
-
![]()
Gracie Films Ident
-
![]()
George Frideric Handel
Messiah
Performer: Trevor Pinnock. Performer: English Concert Choir. Performer: English Concert Orchestra.- Archiv.
- 4236302.
-
![]()
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem in D minor K.626, compl. Duncan Druce
Conductor: Ren茅 Jacobs. Performer: Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.- Harmonia Mundi.
- HMM902291.
-
![]()
Franz Schubert
Symphony no. 9 in C major D.944 (Great)
Performer: Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.- Berliner Philharmoniker.
- BPHR150061.
-
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony no. 9 in D minor Op.125 (Choral)
Conductor: Claudio Abbado. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.- DG.
- 4714912.
-
![]()
The White Stripes
Seven Nation Army
- XL Recordings.
- XLCD-162.
-
![]()
Anton Bruckner
Symphony no. 5 in B flat major
Conductor: Bernard Haitink. Performer: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.- BR-Klassik.
- 900109.
-
![]()
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Le Nozze di Figaro - opera in 4 acts K.492
Conductor: Ren茅 Jacobs. Performer: Lorenzo Regazzo. Performer: Concerto K枚ln.- Harmonia Mundi.
- HMC901818/20.
-
![]()
叠别测辞苍肠茅
Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Composer: Christopher Stewart. Composer: Terius Y Nash. Composer: Thaddis L Harrell. Performer: 叠别测辞苍肠茅.- MUSIC WORLD MUSIC.
- 88697-409802.
-
![]()
Ludwig van Beethoven
Egmont - incidental music Op.84
Conductor: Riccardo Chailly. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.- DECCA.
- 4783492.
-
![]()
Mark-Anthony Turnage
Hammered out for orchestra
Conductor: David Robertson. Performer: 麻豆社 Symphony Orchestra. -
![]()
Ruggero Leoncavallo
I Pagliacci - opera in 2 acts
Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano. Performer: Jonas Kaufmann. Performer: Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome Orchestra.- DECCA.
- 4782258.
-
![]()
Procol Harum
A Whiter Shade Of Pale
- Salvo.
- B000-TZGPUA.
-
![]()
Gioachino Rossini
Il Barbiere di Siviglia - opera in 2 acts
Conductor: Ion Marin. Performer: Dmitri Hvorostovsky. Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra.- philips.
- 4349122.
-
![]()
D Warner
Grace Kelly
Composer: J. Marr. Composer: J. Merchant. Performer: Mika.- Casablanca.
- MIKACD-003.
-
![]()
Frank Sinatra
Full Moon and Empty Arms
- ASV.
- CDAJA-5339.
-
![]()
Sergey Rachmaninov
Concerto no. 2 in C minor Op.18 for piano and orchestra
Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin. Performer: Daniil Trifonov. Performer: The Philadelphia Orchestra.- DG.
- 4835335.
-
![]()
Ramin Djawadi
Game Of Thrones (Main Title) (Instrumental)
Performer: Ramin Djawadi.- Var猫se Sarabande.
- unknown.
-
![]()
Geoffrey Burgon
Brideshead Revisited (Theme)
- EMI.
- B0000006UQ9.
-
![]()
Fran莽ois Couperin
Premiere lecon de tenebres for soprano and continuo
Performer: Hasnaa Bennani. Performer: Vincent Dumestre. Performer: Le Po猫me Harmonique.- Alpha.
- 957.
-
![]()
Jessica Curry
Everybody's gone to the rapture - music for the video game
Music Arranger: James Morgan. Performer: London Voices. Performer: Metro Voices.- Sony.
- G010003370324C.
-
![]()
Stevie Wonder
Isn't She Lovely
Performer: Stevie Wonder.- UNIVERSAL.
- 981-4464.
-
![]()
Barry Manilow
Could it be Magic
- CASABLANCA.
- 822 793-2.
-
![]()
Fr茅d茅ric Chopin
24 Preludes Op.28 for piano
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.- DECCA.
- 4832895.
Broadcasts
- Sun 15 Sep 2019 17:00麻豆社 Radio 3
- Fri 20 Sep 2019 16:30麻豆社 Radio 3
- Sun 8 Nov 2020 17:00麻豆社 Radio 3
- Fri 13 Nov 2020 16:30麻豆社 Radio 3
Featured in...
![]()
More music on Radio 3—Radio 3 in Concert
We broadcast more live and specially-recorded concerts and opera than any other station.
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 鈥渘oise鈥� from 鈥渕usic鈥�, but is it that simple?
Podcast
-
![]()
The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service
