Sex, Death & Pythagoras?

Have you ever wondered how a conductor deciphers the individual musical parts and melodies from a whole opera score? In this episode, Stephen and Joanna deconstruct Richard Strauss’ monumental opera, Salome - a score which contains the so-called “most sickening chord in all opera ...  Show more

What drove 16th century composer, Carlo Gesualdo, to commit homicide? To baton or not to baton? And how do composers really interpret a score? 

Shawn Mendes’ hit song “If I Can’t Have You” is so ridiculously catchy that Charlie had it stuck in his head after the first chorus. How is that possible?! Declamation, or the way that text is set to music, is a big part of the song’s appeal—every word that Mendes sings is perfec ...  Show more

If you could ask BBC Radio 3 one question about music, what would it be? Sue Perkins and Tom Service are here to unravel everything you've ever wondered about music - but were too afraid to ask... Send YOUR questions to r3qt@bbc.co.uk, tweet with the hashtag #r3qt or post them on ...  Show more

What sounds heavenly to one person might sound like boring noise to another - but why are our musical preferences so different? Is it all down to what we hear growing up, or are other factors at play? CrowdScience listener and music lover Jocelyne from Canada wants to know why sh ...  Show more

In this episode, Greg Jenner is joined by Professor Edith Hall and comedian Desiree Burch to learn about ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras. Pythagoras is famous in maths classes everywhere for his triangle theorem, but surprisingly little is known about his a ...  Show more