So, Hear Me Out – the classical music podcast

Using the examples of Mica Levi's score for the 2013 film 'Under the Skin' and the soundtrack from the video game 'Soulcalibur II', Gillian and Linton explore whether film soundtracks and video game scores should be considered true classical music. 

Episode highlights:

00:00 Introduction

01:55 Debating the legitimacy of film and video game scores

06:16 Exploring Mica Levi's score for 'Under the Skin'

14:...

We deep dive into why and how classical music is able to capture pure joy in sound, featuring joyful pieces by Felix Mendelssohn and Francesca Caccini.

Gillian and Linton discuss the innovative and emotional power of Mendelssohn's Octet in E Flat, written by the composer when he was just 16, and the hypnotic, rhythmically alive Chaconne by Cini, one of the first women composers in Europe to earn a living from her music.

In this e...

Can music provide hope when freedom has been taken away? Ethel Smyth’s March of the Women rang out as a rallying cry for imprisoned suffragettes, its rhythms defiant and unifying.  Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, composed and first performed in a Nazi POW camp in 1941, fused faith, birdsong, and dazzling visions of colour into music that offered hope and transcendence to prisoners and guards alike.

Gillian Moore and ...

Expect a whirlwind tour through Luciano Berio’s mashup masterpiece Sinfonia, complete with Mahler, Beckett, and a generous helping of 1960s political angst.

Then it’s off to a galaxy far, far away to explore how Star Wars composer John Williams borrowed from the greats to create some of the most iconic music in film history (spoiler: Holst and Wagner would probably want royalties).

In this episode of So Hear Me Out, your ever-curious...

Linton and Gillian explore how classical music has been used to challenge power, uplift marginalised voices, and fuel social movements. From radical sounds to revolutionary ideas, we discover how music becomes activism.

Linton introduces Julius Eastman’s Gay Guerrilla, a defiant and deeply moving work that reclaims the idea of the ‘guerrilla’ as a symbol of queer resistance. The piece is raw, repetitive, and electrifying – built to ...

Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it travels, it transforms, and sometimes it takes what isn’t freely given.

Hosts Linton Stephens and Gillian Moore wade into one of the most complex questions in music today: is it okay to use sounds from cultures that are not your own? And, perhaps more importantly, how can you tell the difference between inspiration and appropriation?

Together they dig into Claude Debussy’s Pagodas, written after h...

Kicking off with the worst classical music jokes we could find, Linton and Gillian dive into the hidden humour of the classical world — from Haydn’s cheeky Surprise Symphony to Ravel’s mischievous opera L’enfant et les sortilèges.

Q: Why did the pianist keep banging her head against the keys?

A: Because she was playing by ear.

(We’re sorry. It only gets slightly better from here.)

Expect orchestral pranks, singing teacups, and musical ...

Can classical music be protest? Can it make you laugh? Or is it just one big remix?

In So Hear Me Out, hosts Gillian Moore and Linton Stephens dig into the big questions, uncovering unexpected stories, surprising connections, and the hidden humour behind the music you thought you knew.

This is classical music without the clichés — and with plenty to say about the world today.

👉 Subscribe now to So Hear Me Out and don’t miss an episod...

So Hear Me Out is a brand new podcast from London’s Southbank Centre, exploring the big questions around classical music — and why it still matters today.

Join hosts Linton Stephens (musician, broadcaster and Deputy Artistic Director of Chineke! Orchestra) and Gillian Moore (writer, broadcaster and Artistic Associate at Southbank Centre) as they challenge assumptions, unpick controversies, and share fresh ways of listening to the mu...